Vascular BioSciences Awarded Up To $2.3 Million Fast-Track STTR Grant From NHLBI To Develop CAR Peptide For Pulmonary Hypertension

    DURHAM, NC, September 10, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Vascular BioSciences announced today it has an award for a Phase I/II Fast-Track STTR grant in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School. The STTR Fast-Track grant provides up to $2.3 Million from the U.S. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

The project titled, "Cyclic CAR peptide: a targeted therapy for pulmonary hypertension" is designed to develop CARSKNKDC (CAR) peptide to selectively target diseased pulmonary vascular endothelium in pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension describes a diverse set of diseases characterized by elevated pressures and progressive obstruction of the lung vessels with a survival of approximately 5 years following diagnosis despite current treatments. Current therapies are vasodilators that are not specific for lung vessels, and are limited in their use by their tendency to lower pressure in all blood vessels and cause side effects or toxicity in other organs. The current project examines a new type of drug molecule, CAR peptide, which targets only diseased lung blood vessels and which may improve the efficacy and reduce side effects of current treatments by concentrating their effects in diseased lung vessels.

The project's principal investigator, Dr. Paul Yu, M.D. P.H.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, commented, "This project addresses an important need to improve the efficacy and therapeutic index of our current PH strategies and is extremely innovative in modifying the target tissues directly implicated in mediating pulmonary hypertension."

Co-Investigator and noted pulmonary hypertension expert, Dr. Aaron Waxman, M.D. P.H.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, also commented "I am more excited about the potential for CAR as a co-administered treatment for PH than I am about any other novel approach to treat this disease."

Vascular BioSciences CEO and co-principal investigator, David Mann, added, "I believe we are on the cusp of developing a targeting technology for pulmonary hypertension that will help patients by selectively amplifying the effects of co-administered vasodilators in a targeted manner. I look forward to working with Drs. Yu and Waxman to bring this important breakthrough into clinical practice."

This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital or Harvard Medical School.

# # #