Hsp47

SEOUL, South Korea I August 21, 2024 I Innovo Therapeutics Inc. has announced the results of its Phase 2 clinical trial demonstrating the innovative efficacy of INV-001 in scar treatment. The trial involved 77 Korean patients with wounds larger than 3 cm following thyroidectomy, conducted at four general hospitals including Severance Hospital in Seoul. Patients were randomly assigned within 14 days post-surgery to apply INV-001 twice daily for 12 weeks, with efficacy assessed at week 12 using the POSAS (Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale). The trial confirmed both the safety and tolerability of INV-001 at both low (0.2%) and high (2%) doses, with no serious adverse events (SAEs) reported. In the group that received the clinical drug at a high (2%) dose for 12 weeks without major protocol violations, a statistically significant difference (p<0.05, ANCOVA; Analysis of Covariance) was observed compared to the placebo, with a 24.5% reduction in scars at week 12, as confirmed through per-protocol set. Key Findings: Professor Won-Jae Lee, the Coordinating Investigator and a plastic surgeon at Yonsei University Severance Hospital, mentioned that this clinical trial is the first globally to confirm the scar suppression effects of HSP47 inhibition. He emphasized that the proven scar reduction effects of INV-001 are highly encouraging. Additionally, he noted that, given the current lack of specialized topical medications for scar suppression, the development of a specialized ointment based on this clinical trial would be welcomed by both clinicians and patients. Dr. Hee Dong Park, a founder and CEO of Innovo Therapeutics, stated that this clinical trial confirmed the safety and efficacy of INV-001, highlighting its potential as a scar treatment. He also noted that its innovative mechanism promises to deliver real value to patients in the scar treatment market. About INV-001: INV-001 inhibits HSP47, a key protein in collagen formation, transport, and extracellular secretion, thereby preventing and treating post-surgical and trauma-induced scars. Results from disease animal models have confirmed that INV-001 effectively inhibits trauma-induced scars without affecting wound healing. About Innovo Therapeutics: Innovo Therapeutics, Inc., headquartered in South Korea, is a biotechnology company primarily focused on developing small molecules for metabolic, inflammatory, and cancer diseases. The company is actively discovering new drug candidates and optimizing research through its AI platform, DeepZema®. SOURCE: Innovo Therapeutics

Bristol Myers Squibb disclosed Thursday at its R&D Day that it cut six programs, including mid-stage drug candidates for NASH and solid tumors. The New Jersey pharma company axed an siRNA for NASH, known as HSP47, which it licensed from Nitto Denko for $100 million upfront in 2016. Bristol Myers completed a Phase II study in 2019 investigating the therapy in patients with advanced liver fibrosis, or scar tissue buildup, after they were cured of hepatitis C. It had tested two different doses versus placebo in 61 patients, but both doses failed to make a difference in liver scarring compared to placebo, according to results in the federal clinical trials database .

FRIDAY, April 14, 2023 -- Long periods of immobility can put people at risk of dangerous blood clots — yet hibernating bears lie around for months without any problem. Now scientists think they've figured out why. The researchers hope the insight can eventually lead to new drugs for preventing life-threatening blood clots — the kind that begin in the legs but can travel to the brain and cause a stroke, or to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism. In their new study , the researchers found that in hibernating bears, a particular protein — called heat shock protein 47 (HSP47) — is substantially dialed down from its normal activity level. And that appears to prevent blood clots from forming while the animals are in months-long slumber. Even more importantly, the investigators found, that phenomenon also occurs in other species, including humans. Specifically, HSP47 activity is low in people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. That may sound counterintuitive, since temporary immobility — recovering from an injury or surgery, or taking a long-haul flight — can promote blood clots in some people. But it's known that people with paralysis have no higher blood clot risk than mobile people do. And the new findings suggest that HSP47 may be the key, the study authors said. The hope is that the finding will lead to new ways to prevent blood clots in vulnerable people, according to Dr. Tobias Petzold , one of the researchers on the study. "We would like to further study the mechanism by which HSP47 works in preventing (blood clots) in more detail," said Petzold, of Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany. Some long-used medications are already used for preventing blood clots in at-risk people, including old-fashioned aspirin. But, Petzold said, they have side effects, such as an increased risk of bleeding. So there is still a need to keep hunting for medications that are highly effective but safer. "We think that a ‘natural’ blood thinner that the body is capable of mobilizing spontaneously could help tackle that unmet clinical need," Petzold said. Why turn to bears in that quest? "We believe that the bear is a walking library of solutions to our sedentary lifestyle," Petzold said. After all, he pointed out, hibernating bears spend a large portion of their waking lives feasting and packing on huge amounts of weight, only to then spend half the year lying around doing nothing. For humans, that's a virtual recipe for obesity, muscle loss, thinning bones, type 2 diabetes and many other health problems — including blood clots. Yet bears emerge from their hibernation unscathed. Understanding what, exactly, protects them could theoretically point to completely new treatments for various human diseases related to "modern lifestyles," Petzold said. Other researchers are studying bears for that very reason. A study published last year by a Washington State University team identified specific proteins that seem to help shield hibernating grizzlies from diabetes. Humans, it turns out, have counterparts to those protective proteins. For the new study, Petzold and his colleagues studied not only brown bears, but also pigs that were either cooped-up or free-roaming, and people who were mobile or paralyzed by spinal cord injuries. The researchers found that, on average, HSP47 from hibernating bears' blood cells was reduced by 55 times, versus active-season bears. A similar pattern was seen in both pigs and people. It all suggests that HSP47 could be a good target for new medications for people at high risk of blood clots during shorter periods of immobility, according to an editorial published with the study. At the moment, researchers know a lot more about the things that trigger clots than what protects against them, wrote Mirta Schattner , who studies blood clotting mechanisms at the National Academy of Medicine in Buenos Aires, Argentina. According to Schattner, the new study "shows that looking at nature can be a good way to learn about human biology." Blood clots, however, do not only form when people are immobilized, Schattner pointed out. Chronic health conditions like diabetes and various cancers can raise the risk, too. So, she added, one question going forward is whether this heat shock protein is important to blood clotting in those cases, too. The findings were published online April 13 in the journal Science . Sources Tobias Petzold, MD, department of cardiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany Science , April 13, 2023, online Posted April 2023