What it will take to move this sucker in right direction?
Cometitor is doing nicely.
Miljenko
Friday August 10, 8:55 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Idun Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Idun Demonstrates Caspase Inhibitors Reduce Damage Following Heart Attack
- Rodent Model Data Presented at The American Heart Association Shows Promise for Caspase Inhibitors as Therapeutics Following Heart Attacks -
SEATTLE, Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Idun Pharmaceuticals, Inc. presented evidence that caspase inhibitors may have therapeutic potential for the treatment of heart disease at the American Heart Association's Molecular, Integrative and Clinical Approaches to Myocardial Ischemia meeting in Seattle. The data showed that caspase inhibitors significantly decreased heart muscle damage following the induction of a heart attack in a rat model of disease.
The presentation, entitled ``Caspase Inhibitors Reduce Infarct Size When Dosed Post-Reperfusion in Rodent Cardiac Ischemia/Reperfusion Model,'' showed that a caspase inhibitor currently under investigation by scientists at Idun reduced the amount of heart tissue damage up to 55% even when administered one hour after the heart attack. Based on these results, follow-up experiments are underway in other models of disease, which more closely resemble the disease in humans.
``Apoptosis is a major contributor to the pathogenesis of heart disease, including the tissue damage associated with heart attacks,'' said Robert Armstrong, Ph.D., Director, Cell Biology, Idun Pharmaceuticals. ``Evidence from a rat model shows that the compound developed at Idun is effective in reducing the damage associated with heart attacks and importantly, can be effective when administered post trauma.
Heart attacks occur when one or more of the major vessels supplying the heart is obstructed (usually due to blood clot formation in the blood vessel lumen), blood cannot reach the heart muscle therefore restricting the supply of oxygen to the heart. Within 20 minutes of not receiving blood and oxygen, the heart muscle begins to die, leading to a heart attack resulting in the loss of function or contractility of the damaged portion of the heart. More than a million new and recurrent cases of coronary attacks occur every year, with over 40 percent resulting in death.
``Idun has been successful in identifying compounds that modulate apoptosis and therefore show promise for the treatment of debilitating conditions such as heart attacks,'' commented Steven Mento, Ph.D., President and CEO of Idun Pharmaceuticals. `` Further success in animal models will pave the way for human clinical testing in 2002.''
Idun Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, CA. It creates innovative human therapeutics with a primary focus on controlling apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Idun believes that controlling the cell death process will have utility in treating cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, ischemic disorders and cardiovascular disease. The company has adopted a commercialization strategy encompassing strategic collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies, internal, independent development of selected small molecule therapeutics, and out-licensing of diagnostics, gene therapies, and bioproduction technologies. Idun has a broad patent portfolio covering the fundamental and core technologies involved in the regulation of cell death and has established partnerships with Abbott Laboratories in cancer, with Elan Corporation, plc in stroke, and Becton Dickinson and Company in research reagents. |
