HOUSTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Researchers of Louisana State University (LSU) got more than 1.4 million U.S. dollars fund to study the potential efficacy of a novel drug targeting heart diseases, according to a public release on Monday by the university.
The fund is part of the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Fast-Track grant of 3.7 million dollars over three years by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The funding will be used to study the first in a new class of drugs of Exscien Corporation of Louisville, KY, aiming at repairing DNA damage to reduce cardiac tissue injury and improve outcomes in cardiovascular diseases.
The research by the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence at LSU Health Sciences Center will focus on Exscien1-III, a patented three-part fusion protein designed to harness the body's own mechanisms to control and repair disease pathways.
While at an early stage of overall development, Exscien's proprietary protein leads the way to finding a means to mitigate and repair the underlying tissue damage suffered from heart diseases.
"Exscien is able to deliver microscopic repair enzymes directly to the root of the damage and thus goes beyond the current standard of care of simply treating downstream symptoms," says Dr. Ker Ferguson, Exscien CEO. "The therapy offers substantial commercial potential and has attracted large 'pharma' interest to date."
"This approach could potentially effect more than 20 million people worldwide with progressive heart failure," notes Dr. David Lefer, professor of Pharmacology and director of the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine.
