SOD mimetics have major medical potential, based on the growing body of antioxidant and disease research. For more than twenty years, we have understood the free radical fighting power of the bodys natural SOD enzyme, but until recently, we have been unable to reproduce the beneficial effect in a stable and selective drug form, said Dennis Riley, MetaPhores Vice President of Research & Development.
Just like the antioxidant vitamins E and C, MetaPhores SOD mimetics remove free radicals. However, the metal-based mimetic compounds do so at a greatly enhanced rate (mopping up more than 20 million superoxide molecules per second) and in a very selective manner. Unlike naturally derived SOD enzyme, the metal-based mimetic is well suited for use as a drug because it has a much lower molecular weight, is much more stable, has a longer half-life, and does not appear to elicit an immune response in the body.
Attempts to use natural, bovine-derived SOD enzymes in clinical applications were frustrated by the natural forms inherent instability and the bodys allergic reaction to its introduction. It also had a very short half-life, lasting intact in the body only about fifteen minutes.
Numerous animal studies over the last few years have confirmed the disease fighting potential of MetaPhores SOD mimetics. The October 1999 issue of Science published research documenting that MetaPhores SOD mimetic substantially reduced tissue damage due to inflammation and reperfusion the latter involving the return of blood flow to an organ following removal of a blockage, such as after a heart attack.
MetaPhore recently announced that it has received an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to conduct Phase 1 studies aimed at developing potential new treatments for managing acute and chronic pain.
The companys first drug candidate is targeted at cancer, where it is proceeding toward an In
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Contact: Emily Ross
eross@kupperparker.com
314-290-2156
Kupper Parker Communications
1-Nov-2000