Lp-PLA2 inhibitor enters clinic.
Human Genome Sciences Receives Clinical Milestone Payment From Partner
- GlaxoSmithKline Initiates Human Clinical Trials of Drug Targeting a New Risk Factor for Coronary Artery Disease -
ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI - news) today announced that it has received a clinical milestone payment from its partner, GlaxoSmithKline, with respect to the commencement of Phase 1 human clinical trials of a new compound, Lp-PLA2 inhibitor. This compound was discovered by GlaxoSmithKline investigators using Human Genome Sciences' technology.
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About Lp-PLA2 inhibitor
An article in The New England Journal of Medicine (2000 October 18, 343(16): 1148-55) entitled ``Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2 As An Independent Predictor of Coronary Heart Disease,'' described the proof of concept experiment that led to Lp-PLA2 being identified as a positive risk factor for heart disease. The article details a study of the blood sera of patients enrolled in the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study. A number of patients who had had a coronary event were each matched for age and other factors with two control subjects who had not had a coronary event. Three variables were measured at base line, along with other traditional risk factors. The results showed that levels of Lp-PLA2 had a strong, positive association with risk of coronary events, independent of other risk factors. In other words, the risk for coronary artery disease was greater if a patient's Lp-PLA2 was higher.
In laboratory models of human coronary disease, GlaxoSmithKline researchers found that inhibition of Lp-PLA2 caused a marked reduction in the progression of atherosclerotic plaque without changing the cholesterol level. |
