CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) and Dortmund University, Germany, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for taking up research work for cancer screening.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday, head of the natural products chemistry division of the IICT, S Chandrasekhar said that the objective of the collaboration is to find drugs for cancer therapy which develop resistance. ‘’If we develop a new chemical for cancer therapy we will share with Dortmund University and if they come across new drug they would share with us,’’ he said.

He said that all the tests will be done at Max Planck Institutes, Germany.

IICT is working on Alzheimer’s disease and was trying to find a better and more effective chemical than Galantamine. Chandrasekhar said.

Galantamine belongs to the family of  cholinesterase inhibitors and is used to treat Alzheimer’s disease, he said.

Chandrasekar said that the IICT and Mayo Clinic, USA, had developed four new chemicals through neem plant for treating renal cancer. “We have found that the new chemical can kill renal cancer cells 100 percent,” he informed.

He said that as part of 70th year celebrations, CSIR-IICT is organising a four-day international symposium on ‘Nature inspired initiatives in chemical trends.’ The symposium was inaugurated on Monday by University of Hyderabad professor Goverdhan Mehta. About 600 delegates from various countries including US, France, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, China and South Korea are participating in the conference.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / March 04th, 2014