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Biotech / Medical : Sugen (SUGN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: gao seng who wrote (465)	6/11/1999 7:43:00 PM
From: Miljenko Zuanic	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 550

This may be relevant to SUGN/ALG! What about BRB (Blood Retina Barrier)??? <<Campochiaro and colleagues suggest that PKC 412 may work by blocking the factors that trigger abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina. The drug does not appear to affect normal blood vessels, they note.>> Wondering what factor? :) Full article from Reuters: Pill may prevent blinding blood vessel growth NEW YORK, Jun 11 (Reuters Health) -- Promising research in mice suggests that a new experimental pill may halt the growth of abnormal blood vessels on or beneath the retina, the cause of two common types of blindness related to age and diabetes. Called PKC 412 or CGP 41251, the drug is under development by Novartis Ltd. Pharmaceuticals' CIBA Vision Eye Care Unit. It may be tested in human studies as early as next year, researchers speculate in the June issue of American Journal of Pathology. "This is the first drug I've seen that has a knock-your-socks-off kind of effect," lead researcher Dr. Peter Campochiaro, professor of ophthalmology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore, Maryland, pointed out in a written statement. "If these animal models are predictive, the drug should work in people," he added. "Remarkably, the drug can be given orally, the preferred method of drug delivery in people," Campochiaro said. Campochiaro and colleagues suggest that PKC 412 may work by blocking the factors that trigger abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina. The drug does not appear to affect normal blood vessels, they note. Abnormal blood vessels that grow on or beneath the retina (the light-sensitive membrane that lines the back of the eye) are often faulty and can leak, causing blindness. This occurs in age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in people older than 55, and in diabetic retinopathy, which afflicts half of all Americans diagnosed with diabetes. If human studies pan out, this drug could potentially replace the current treatments for the two conditions, laser treatment and surgery to remove abnormal blood vessels. These treatments remove new blood vessels but they do not get at the underlying cause of the growth, thus the blood vessels may come back. "Previous drug studies have only halted growth of abnormal vessels by roughly 50%, but this medication appears to stop it completely in three mouse models," Campochiaro said. SOURCE: American Journal of Pathology 1999;154.