Biopharmaceutical company Opexa Therapeutics wants to develop chronic remedies for chronic diseases. Specializing in autologous treatments (those which use the patient's own tissue and cells), Opexa is developing Tovaxin, a T-cell vaccine used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, which is caused when the body's immune system (T-cells) attacks the nervous system. Currently in late stages of development, Tovaxin works by lowering the levels of harmful T-cells in the body. Opexa was also researching its adult stem cell technology with the goal of developing treatments for diabetes and other chronic diseases, but it sold rights to the stem cell technology to Novartis in 2009.