LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InflammaGen Therapeutics (a portfolio Company of Leading Biosciences) will be presenting at Boston’s BioPharm America Meeting, September 9, 2011. In collaboration with the Bioengineering Department at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), InflammaGen Therapeutics has developed a new diagnostic assay and therapy to help clinicians diagnose, prevent and/or treat multi-organ failure as a result of acute shock (septic, hemorrhagic, cardiogenic, etc.).
Over the last 10 years, Dr. Geert Schmid-Schonbein, Head of the Microcirculation Lab at UCSD, has been researching the role that potent digestive enzymes play as the body begins to enter acute shock. He and his colleagues discovered that these enzymes are able to permeate the intestinal wall as junctions in the wall begin to expand and open as a result of acute shock. These active enzymes and resultant mediators enter the circulation and blood stream and begin to digest healthy tissues causing multi-organ failure. According to InflammaGen’s CEO, John Rodenrys, “Dr. Schmid-Schonbein’s research has led to the discovery of a new mechanism for multi-organ failure resulting from shock.” Dr. Schmid-Schonbein has been recognized for this work, winning the 2008 Landis Award, published in Microcirculation. The science has been coined Autodigestion.
Human experience outside the United States supports the therapeutic outcomes seen in two animal species. Previous research and therapies have focused on treating the symptoms of acute shock, specifically septic shock. The focus of this therapy is to inhibit or block this cascade at the root of the problem and appears to be effective in multiple forms of acute shock, not just septic shock.
Multi-organ failure can be caused by acute shock (septic or hemorrhagic shock, burns, etc.) and has a high mortality rate with very few treatment options. Hank Loy, InflammaGen’s President, states, “The treatment of shock and multi-organ failure is a significant, unmet medical need as septic shock alone results in 735,000 hospitalizations yearly and 215,000 deaths in the U.S., and is a leading cause of in-hospital death and expense in the U.S.” This new therapy has the potential to significantly improve outcomes, reduce costs and for the first time fill this unmet medical need for patients not only in the United States but also in other countries.
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CONTACT:
InflammaGen Therapeutics
Hank Loy, 949-939-6005
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Biotechnology General Health
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