Researcher Awarded More Than $600 K for Crohn's Disease Studies

Dr. Scott Kachlany

Dr. Scott Kachlany has received a two-year $621,403 grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to carry out research on the cause and treatment of Crohn’s disease.

Kachlany, an associate professor in the Department of Oral Biology, aims to identify the types of white blood cells that trigger inflammation in patients with Crohn’s Disease. He also plans on testing to find if  a new drug candidate he has been studying in his lab can reduce, or even eliminate, the inflammatory white blood cells.

Called Leukothera, the drug is based on Kachlany’s discovery that an oral bacterium, which can cause periodontal disease, produces a protein that kills diseased white blood cells. Dr. Kachlany  founded a company, Actinobac Biomed, to develop Leukothera as a potential treatment for leukemia and lymphoma, as well as numerous autoimmune and inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

“We’re trying to understand the mechanism that causes these certain white blood cells to become inflamed in Crohn’s patients, and how this new therapy can be used to eliminate inflamed white blood cells,’’ said Kachlany.  “The ultimate goal is to learn more about the etiology of Crohn’s disease, and introduce new therapies that can benefit patients who suffer from this condition. This grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust will be instrumental in helping us reach this goal.”

Kachlany's company, Actinobac Biomed Inc., has received $5 million in venture capital funding and more than $3 million in federal funding to help bring the drug to market.