Chronic Airways Diseases (CAD) are a group of diseases affecting the airways of the respiratory system.
CADs include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, chronic bronchitis, Cystic Fibrosis (CF), diffuse panbronchiolitis (DPB) and bronchiectasis. They are considered inflammatory diseases, yet treatments targeting this aspect of the disease, such as steroids, do not improve health nor prognosis.
This is due to:
- A poor understanding of the underlying inflammatory mechanisms
- A lack of 'gold standard' anti-inflammatory drugs
- A lack of biomarkers to predict therapeutic response
- A heterogeneity between patients with the same disease
EpiEndo is investigating whether the enhancement of the epithelial barrier is a superior strategy to prevent inflammation in airway epithelium. We are developing a novel family of pharmaceutical compounds for the treatment of Chronic Airways Diseases: BARRIOLIDES.
The epithelial barrier enhancing effect of the Barriolides is unique, since although the epithelial inflammation is clinically diminished, it is not due to a direct anti-inflammatory or immunomodulatory effect of the drugs.
Barriolides have the potential to cause a revolutionary paradigm shift in research and treatment of many epithelial inflammatory diseases of the human body.
The barrier integrity paradigm offers a novel approach to measuring and monitoring airway barrier integrity as an efficacy endpoint, both in preclinical and clinical trials for drug development.
It may lay the foundation for a new predictive biomarker and physiologic monitoring methods in respiratory disease research and clinical care.
Barriolides are non-antibiotic compounds
Non-bacterial airway diseases are one of the most common causes of anti-biotic over prescription. By developing non-antibiotic novel drugs, EpiEndo intends to diminish the antibiotic over prescription, which is responsible of the current global threat of bacterial resistance.
Bacterial resistance is particularly problematic in the case of Cystic Fibrosis patients. CF is an orphan condition, which affects approximately 90,000 people worldwide – primarily in North America and the EU. Our lead compound, Bronchomycin, which is non-antibiotic, has been designed for the treatment of CF. Bronchomycin is the first in class tissue specific epithelial barrier-enhancing medicine.
In addition, Barriolides have the potential to be applied to several Chronic Airway Diseases (CAD, e.g. COPD, asthma, etc.). There are over 401,000 yearly deaths in the EU-28 resulting from diseases of the respiratory system, equivalent to 8.0 % of all deaths. The World Health Organization states that over 3 million people die per annum from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is equivalent to 6% of all deaths worldwide. COPD is the fourth leading cause of deaths worldwide and the 7th most common cause of DALYs (disability-adjusted life years). Respiratory diseases are a huge burden on our health and social care systems as well as quality of life of the patients. Acute exacerbation of COPD is the most common cause of hospital admission in western health care.
Our long-term objective is to gain approval in a spectrum of respiratory diseases that currently present unsolved concerns for Drs. and patients and contribute to tackle the social and economical burden of Chronic Airways Diseases globally.
