Seems like Curis is trying to get Wyeth to pee or get off the pot, in terms of accepting this molecule.
>>we would plan to partner this program for human studies," said Daniel R. Passeri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis<<
>>Wyeth has a right of first negotiation to obtain an exclusive license to the local cardiovascular applications. If Wyeth declines to exercise its option, or if Curis is unable to reach an agreement with Wyeth on terms within the contractually specified period, Curis is free to seek another collaborator for this program.<<
Press Release Source: Curis, Inc.
Hedgehog Pathway Activation Promotes Tissue Protection and Repair in Cardiac Ischemia
Tuesday October 25, 9:00 am ET
Preclinical Data Published in Nature Medicine
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 2005--Curis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CRIS - News), a therapeutic drug development company, today announced the publication of data showing that stimulating the Hedgehog signaling pathway was therapeutically efficacious in preclinical models of both acute and chronic ischemic heart disease. Myocardial ischemia, the interruption of blood flow and oxygen to heart muscle, is the leading cause of heart attacks. In the U.S., approximately 1.1 million individuals experience new or recurrent myocardial infarctions each year and, of these, about 40% eventually develop congestive heart failure, a form of chronic heart disease. The research for these studies was performed in the laboratory of Dr. Douglas Losordo in the Division of Cardiovascular Research at the St. Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston, Massachusetts.
The Hedgehog pathway governs major aspects of heart and blood vessel development in the fetus and remains active in the adult for tissue maintenance and repair. When blood flow to the heart is blocked experimentally, which simulates an acute heart attack, the pathway is upregulated. In the reported animal studies, therapeutic activation of the Hedgehog pathway near the zone of ischemic damage in the heart appeared to protect heart cells from death, preserve heart muscle function, improve blood flow, and attract bone-marrow derived progenitor cells from the blood that help build new blood vessels. Activating the Hedgehog pathway appears to result in the coordinated release of various factors that promote these diverse protective and regenerative effects, which potentially could result in more robust and durable efficacy in the clinic than treatment with single factors alone.
"This study adds to the growing body of preclinical data supporting the use of Hedgehog agonists to promote tissue repair post ischemia. Heart disease is one of the leading killers of Americans and although early, this data is encouraging that our novel approach could show significant promise. In keeping with our collaboration strategy, which allows for the development of a broad portfolio of promising assets providing significant value potential, we would plan to partner this program for human studies," said Daniel R. Passeri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Curis, Inc.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has licensed rights from Curis for Hedgehog agonist compounds, including small molecule compounds, proteins and polypedtides for systemic treatment of diseases and disorders in humans, which includes systemic treatment of cardiovascular disease. In addition, as part of Curis' collaboration with Wyeth, Curis has retained the right to locally administer Hedgehog agonist compounds for the treatment of cardiovascular disease, including peripheral vascular disease and acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack. Wyeth has a right of first negotiation to obtain an exclusive license to the local cardiovascular applications. If Wyeth declines to exercise its option, or if Curis is unable to reach an agreement with Wyeth on terms within the contractually specified period, Curis is free to seek another collaborator for this program. Preclinical data relating to this program has been derived from studies conducted at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.
The article entitled, "Sonic hedgehog gene therapy in myocardial ischemia: tissue repair through transient reconstitution of embryonic signaling" will appear in the November issue of Nature Medicine. An Advanced Online Publication of the article is available now at nature.com. The lead author on the paper is Dr. Kengo F. Kusano. (snip) |
