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news.Emerging biopharmaceutical company VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals has enlisted the help of Cleveland Clinic in the development of its first drug - calcitonin gene related peptide, or CGRP, for the treatment of heart failure.
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The clinic will prepare a clinical protocol design for a phase I/II trial to be conducted at the clinic and coordinated by its Cardiovascular Coordinating Center. In addition, the clinic will assist VasoGenix in its discussions with the FDA.
“We are pleased to be working with Cleveland Clinic, the world's foremost heart center. In particular, we are appreciative of the Cleveland Clinic Cardiovascular Coordinating Center's assistance to us over the past year in understanding and focusing the potential clinical cardiology indications for CGRP,” said Dr G Lee Southard, chairman and CEO of VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals.
VasoGenix intends to develop CGRP to treat several cardiology indications, the first of which is heart failure.
According to the company CGRP is differentiated from current drugs for treating heart attack because it appears to work on several levels. The company says that the drug increases local blood flow enhancing hemodynamic proficiency, protects heart muscle cells from the damage due to lack of oxygen, and modulates the immune system by boosting anti-inflammatory cytokine expression while suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines, which reduces the inflammatory response to provide a cardioprotective effect.