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Michael Blackburn, PhD
University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston
Immuno-deficient patients that lack an enzyme called adenosine deaminase (ADA) can be treated by replacing the enzyme. Dr. Blackburn has found that this treatment unexpectedly reduces lung inflammation and airway remodeling, as occurs in asthma and other chronic lung diseases. He has entered into an agreement with ENZON Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the company that makes ADA, to examine the efficacy of their FDA-approved ADA in the treatment of asthma and other lung diseases, and to test newer forms of ADA that they have developed. They plan to follow with clinical trials.
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Richard Bond, PhD
University of Houston
Many patients with asthma inhale drugs called ' β-agonists', such as albuterol, which open the airways. Drugs with the opposite effect, called ' β-blockers', have long been used for other diseases, such as hypertension, but they are usually forbidden in patients with asthma because they make asthma worse. From his studies of animals, Dr. Bond has surprising evidence that this may not be true in the long run; asthma may instead improve with low daily doses of β-blockers. Dr. Bond is clinically testing low-dose β-blockers in humans with asthma. He has co-founded a company to support broader studies in humans.diseases, and to test newer forms of ADA that they have developed. They plan to follow with clinical trials.
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David Clapham, MD, PhD
Children's Hospital of Boston
Calcium is essential for constriction of the muscles that close airways. Dr. Clapham has developed a treatment for asthma that blocks the entry of calcium into airway muscle cells. He has co-founded a company that will continue his work to test the use of these drugs in asthma.
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Marco Conti, MD
Children's Hospital of Boston
For many years, theophylline has been used to treat asthma, but its use is limited by side effects. Dr. Conti identified targets for asthma therapy that will allow the use of drugs that have the same therapeutic effect as theophylline but with fewer side effects. He is now working with a major drug firm to achieve this.
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Michael Croft, PhD
La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
Dr. Croft found a new way to treat asthma, by blocking an interaction between two proteins (called OX40 and OX40L) that are expressed on immune cells that promote asthma. His work has led Genentech, in collaboration with Roche, to pursue therapies that will prevent the interaction between OX40 and OX40L. In studies of small animals and non-human primates the results are very promising.
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Robert Lefkowitz, MD
Duke University
β-arrestins are receptor regulatory proteins that are found in many cells, including inflammatory cells. Dr. Lefkowitz had previously utilized inhibition of β-arrestins to demonstrate their role in heart and vascular diseases. Because of the studies by Dr. Lefkowitz and his colleague Julia Walker, both the pharmaceutical industry and the National Institutes of Health have provided funding to develop and better understand how β-arrestin inhibition can treat asthma.
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Danuta Radzioch, PhD
McGill University
Dr. Radzioch's studies led her to test a compound, called S28463 (also called resiquimod, developed by 3M Pharmaceutical and now licensed to Graceway Pharmaceuticals) that is already used clinically as a topical treatment for skin conditions, including cancer. When Dr. Radzioch gave S28463 to animals, it almost completely blocked the development of asthma. Dr. Radzioch is now conducting studies monitoring both the safety and efficacy of this compound before clinical trials can be started.
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Jonathan Stamler, MD
Duke University
S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) is a molecule that normally keeps the airways open. Dr Stamler and colleagues found that GSNO falls to low levels in asthma and they identified an enzyme that breaks it down. Restoration of GSNO levels may thus be of therapeutic benefit in patients with asthma, and this is now being tested in clinical trials.
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Jenny P-Y Ting, PhD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Dr. Ting was one of the discoverers of a group of proteins that are found inside white blood cells, where they regulate inflammation. Through her studies, she has examined the production and function of these proteins in asthma, both in animals and in humans. She has entered into an agreement with a major biotechnology company to apply this work to asthma therapies.
