Descrizione del progetto
Un farmaco già utilizzato nella sclerosi multipla per il trattamento dell’insufficienza cardiaca
La coronaropatia è la causa principale di decesso nei paesi sviluppati che annovera milioni di casi solo in Europa. È correlata alla riduzione del flusso ematico al cuore, il che può portare all’infarto miocardico. Per affrontare l’esigenza di riparazione del muscolo cardiaco, che risulta essere il problema principale dopo un infarto miocardico, il progetto ReDHeaD, finanziato dall’UE, testerà un farmaco approvato dall’FDA, il copaxone, che viene utilizzato nel trattamento della sclerosi multipla. I dati preclinici dimostrano un miglioramento significativo nei parametri della funzione cardiaca in seguito alla somministrazione di copaxone. I ricercatori si prepareranno alle sperimentazioni cliniche per convalidare l’efficacia del farmaco nell’uomo e intraprenderanno tutte le necessarie attività normative e di commercializzazione per la sua rapida traslazione clinica.
Obiettivo
Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) and particularly Myocardial Infarction (MI), i.e. heart attack, is the leading cause of death in the Western world today. The main cause for CHD is the incapacity of the mammalian heart to undergo regeneration after injury. Current therapies are not able to address the central problem of decreased pumping capacity that results from the depleted pool of cardiac muscle cells. The outcome of this shortcoming is grim; nearly half of all patients with heart failure die within five years of the initial diagnosis.
We have tested a widely used FDA approved drug, Copaxone, which is used to treat Multiple Sclerosis, for its efficacy in heart repair and made a breakthrough discovery. Copaxone improved cardiac function and reduced scarring in a mouse MI model. Most of the treated mice (85%) responded to the treatment, exhibiting an average improvement of 44% in heart function parameters, along with 40% reduction in scar size.
In this PoC, we will expand these experiments by testing Copaxone using a chronic heart failure (CHF) model in both small and large animals (rats, pigs), and determine the optimal dosage regimen. Based on positive findings in this PoC, we plan to pursue Phase II clinical trials. The suggested activities include the preparation of the commercialization by interacting with key opinion leaders (e.g. cardiologists), who are in the position to speed up the clinical translation. We will also interact with pharma companies to build a potential collaborator and customer network. Eventually, we aim at commercializing repurposing existing drug to treat heart diseases, for CHF or acute MI indications. The impact of such therapy would be vast: CHD is the most common cause of death in Europe, accounting for 1.8 million deaths each year. As the original drug was already successfully commercialized by our institute, we can build on this experience and have the treatment available in approximately 5-6 years.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum PilotIstituzione ospitante
7610001 Rehovot
Israele