Newswise — University of Saskatchewan health researcher John Gordon has been awarded $242,000 from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to help bring closer to market a new anti-inflammatory drug that could ease the suffering of people with arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, and cystic fibrosis, as well as reduce damage caused by heart attacks and strokes.
"This potential new treatment for infectious and chronic diseases is an example of life and health sciences research excellence at the University of Saskatchewan," says U of S Vice-President Research Steven Franklin. "Today's targeted investment from CIHR will help our researchers develop this exciting innovation that could benefit all Canadians."
Over the next year, Gordon and his team will look at a number of inflammatory ailments to find out which ones are the most promising candidates for human clinical trials. Their grant is part of $1.2 million to fund health research in Saskatchewan announced in April by CIHR President Dr. Alan Bernstein.
"The CIHR health research funding announced today will advance knowledge in many areas that are of strategic importance to Canada and will also contribute to strengthening the research and training environment for young Canadians in all regions of the country," Bernstein says.
Gordon, a researcher in the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, explains this new drug is a protein, G31P, that targets a very specific part of the inflammatory response. It may therefore be superior to alternatives, such as corticosteroids which can cause severe complications when used at high doses or over prolonged periods of time.
"G31P's anti-inflammatory effects seem in some respects to mirror specifically the anti-inflammatory effects of corticosteroids without triggering unrelated responses," Gordon says.
Vancouver-based PacGen BioPharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company specializing in developing innovative therapeutics for disease prevention and treatment, has licensed the G31P technology for further development.
"We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Gordon and to be an industry sponsor for research at the University of Saskatchewan." says PacGen co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer David Cheng. "Dr. Gordon's expertise is invaluable as we continue our early stage development studies for G31P. We look forward to determining the drug candidate's real potential as an immune system regulator and novel anti-inflammatory agent."
The precision of the new drug could make it ideal for treating chronic ailments such as inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. As well, it promises to be highly effective in treating people with cystic fibrosis, who are susceptible to bacterial pneumonia due to the sticky mucus that accumulates in their lungs. G31P has been shown to dramatically reduce the severe lung inflammation typical of bacterial pneumonia.
Since G31P could potentially fit well with a wide range of inflammatory diseases, the next step for the research team is to find out which of these diseases are the best candidates for clinical trials. Over the next year, the team will be looking at bacterial pneumonia, arthritis, allergic diseases such as asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, and ischemia-perfusion injury, which occurs in heart attack, stroke, and organ transplant patients.
Gordon and his team will receive funds under a CIHR Proof of Principle (POP) grant. POP grants are intended to bridge the gap between university research and commercial development. They support the work required to bring health innovations to a market-ready stage, where industry partners can be attracted to continue development.
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