Paper Describes and Validates Rationale for Company’s Innovative Approach
ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–November 12, 2013–
Antegrin Therapeutics, a drug discovery and development company focused on novel treatments for fibrotic diseases, announced today the publication of key preclinical data in the current online issue of Nature Medicine. The research highlights the role played by multiple specific αv integrins in activating the central mediator of fibrosis, transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ). The paper also reports positive findings in animal models of lung and liver fibrosis resulting from pharmacologic inhibition of these integrins.
Antegrin is developing small-molecule compounds that selectively inhibit all five TGFβ-activating integrins examined in the Nature Medicine study. Preclinical efficacy data generated using one of these compounds is published for the first time in the paper, which was co-authored by Dean Sheppard, M.D., Director of the Lung Biology Center at the University of California, San Francisco, Antegrin founders Peter Ruminski, M.S., and David Griggs, Ph.D., at Saint Louis University, and others.
“These studies indicate that multiple αv integrins are components of a core cellular and molecular pathway that contributes to pathologic fibrosis in multiple organs,” said Dr. Sheppard. “Our results suggest that inhibition of αv integrins may have clinical utility in the treatment of patients with a broad range of fibrotic diseases.”
“The Nature Medicine report lays out the persuasive scientific rationale for Antegrin’s unique approach of inhibiting multiple specific, fibrosis-promoting integrins with a single small molecule,” said Robert Karr, M.D., President and CEO of Antegrin. “The strategy is further validated by demonstration of compelling preclinical efficacy following treatment with a compound in Antegrin’s portfolio.”
Antegrin Chairman Rajesh Devraj, Ph.D., noted, “The potent αv integrin inhibitors in Antegrin’s growing chemical library have the potential to be delivered by multiple routes of administration, including inhalation for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. In addition to the studies using systemic delivery described in the paper, a representative Antegrin compound administered by pulmonary delivery has demonstrated impressive efficacy in a preclinical model of lung fibrosis.”
The Nature Medicine paper, entitled “Targeting of αv integrin identifies a core molecular pathway that regulates fibrosis in several organs,” will appear in the December print edition of the journal.
About Antegrin
Antegrin Therapeutics, LLC, is a drug discovery and development company located in St. Louis, MO. The company was founded based on technology developed by researchers at the Center for World Health & Medicine at Saint Louis University and is dedicated to the development of novel treatments for fibrotic diseases. Antegrin is initially focused on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive, life-threatening condition that currently has no FDA-approved treatment. The company has received funding from BioGenerator and the Missouri Technology Corporation. For more information, please visit www.antegrin.com.
Antegrin Therapeutics, LLC
George Capps, 314-932-4032, ext. 317
Director of Business Development
capps@antegrin.com
