Redx to test new candidate aimed at treating fibrosis
Cheshire-based cancer and fibrosis drugs developer, Redx Pharma, has announced a new candidate to treat fibrosis, a condition that causes scar tissue to build up in the lungs.
The Alderley Park company said the first in-man studies are earmarked for 2020, and pre-clinical data is to be presented at the Anti-Fibrotic Drug Development summit, Cambridge, USA on November 29.
The new treatment is aimed at idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a severe and life-threatening chronic lung condition with very poor prognosis and limited treatment options.
The treatment, RXC006, represents a novel approach to treat this debilitating and progressive disease through targeting porcupine, a component enzyme of the Wnt pathway.
There is strong scientific evidence that this pathway is critically involved in the scarring process (fibrosis) in the lung that is a hallmark of IPF.
This leads, over time, to the lungs being unable to function effectively, ultimately resulting in suffocation and death.
Redx says extensive pre-clinical testing has revealed that RXC006 is very potent and highly effective at suppressing the Wnt pathway, and hence fibrosis, in vivo in the lung as well as in the liver and the kidney.
Lisa Anson, Redx chief executive, said: “IPF is a devastating disease with little effective treatment and there is, therefore, a clear unmet need for new therapies.
“Redx is excited to bring its precision medicinal chemistry expertise to bear with the discovery of this novel drug candidate.
“We look forward to taking RXC006 into clinical development – we plan to enter first in-man clinical trials during 2020, in line with our strategy.”
Dr Peter Bunyard, Redx’s head of fibrosis, will be presenting pre-clinical data at the 2nd Anti-Fibrotic Drug Development summit in Cambridge USA on Thursday November 29, 2018.
