A company is raising $6 million to advance the development of a natural human protein with anti-inflammatory benefits for critical care patients.
BioAegis Therapeutics is developing recombinant human plasma gelsolin to restore plasma gelsolin levels in patients where it is depleted. As of last month it had raised about $500,000.
The compelling characteristic of plasma gelsolin, the fourth most prevalent protein in the body, is it plays a critical role in containing inflammation and preventing it from spreading.
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Recent findings have shown that plasma gelsolin is a key part of the body’s immunity that modulates and localizes inflammation while boosting immune function, according to the company’s website. Although the protein keeps inflammation local, when levels of the protein fall it can lead to organ failure.
The Morristown, New Jersey-based company licensed the technology for plasma gelsolin from Brigham and Women’s Hospital where it was developed by Dr. Thomas Stossel, director of translational medicine, who also serves as American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School along with collaborators at Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and BloodCenter of Wisconsin.
The therapeutics company becomes the latest to option the technology after previous efforts by Biogen and Critical Biologics were dropped.
Biogen licensed the technology in 1994 and had tried to develop it to treat people with cystic fibrosis. Critical Biologics had tried to develop it for intensive care unit patients to boost the gelsolin levels in these patients and decrease the probability that they would develop complications from their underlying disease such as organ system failure or death, according to the clinicaltrials.gov website.
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In an interview with MedCity News, Steven Cordovano, a spokesman for BioAegis, referred to the therapeutic as the “holy grail” because inflammation occurs in most diseases and its spread is a critical factor in the patient’s condition.
Cordovano estimates about $30 million has been invested in the protein’s development and previous attempts to develop the drug have produced a great deal of data. In addition to developing plasma gelsolin for applications in intensive care unit settings, BioAegis sees scope for other applications for recombinant human plasma gelsolin in orphan and chronic diseases such as trauma, sepsis burns and renal diseases. It also wants to develop it in biomarker partnerships.
“We believe we will be able to prevent sepsis and reduce the number of adverse events,” Cordovano said.
