NZ chemistry could help gout patients
02 Feb, 2010
Source: Industrial Research Ltd
A new gout treatment co-developed by Industrial Research Ltd is a step closer to the world’s largest market.
The compound, called BCX4208, is a next generation purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) inhibitor, which may be useful in diseases dependent on T-cells, B-cells or uric acid.
“Gout prevalence is increasing worldwide and is a real problem in New Zealand. A major risk factor for developing gout is excessive uric acid levels in the blood, but the choice of uric acid-lowering drugs is limited. A new, well tolerated treatment for controlling uric acid levels would be good news for gout sufferers,” Dr Jacquie Harper of the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research says.
A Phase 2 human clinical trial of BCX4208 was recently started by US biotech company BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. Trial participants suffer from gout, a severe form of arthritis, affecting tens of millions of people globally. It is particularly common in Māori and Pacific Island people.
The trial is designed to determine the effect of different doses of orally administered BCX4208 on uric acid levels in the blood. A build-up of uric acid can lead to the often painful condition known as gout.
BCX4208 is different from existing gout treatments because it targets the enzyme PNP. This novel mechanism gives BCX4208 the potential to address unmet medical needs in several inflammatory diseases in which PNP plays a role.
