SAN DIEGO, Jan. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Renova™ Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company developing gene therapy treatments for congestive heart failure and other chronic diseases, has obtained an exclusive worldwide license to several patents from the nonprofit Research Development Foundation (RDF). This group of patents adds to Renova Therapeutics' extensive intellectual property portfolio in the cardiovascular and metabolic disease space, paving the way for its paracrine gene therapy product pipeline.
RDF and Renova Therapeutics have entered into a worldwide exclusive license agreement for RDF's portfolio of urocortin and stresscopin genes, as well as select peptides and proteins. The company intends to explore use of this family of genes to create treatments for sufferers of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, including one of the world's most common, fatal and expensive chronic diseases – type 2 diabetes. The incidence of type 2 diabetes is staggering and growing rapidly, with 27.6 million people in the United States and approximately 370 million people around the world1 living with this debilitating disease.
"This agreement with RDF enables us to expand our pioneering research in gene therapy for CHF, type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases," says Jack W. Reich, Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder of Renova Therapeutics. "We have reason to believe that these genes, using our paracrine gene therapy approach, will have a profoundly positive effect on patient healthcare in years to come."
Renova Therapeutics' paracrine gene therapy treatments are based on a novel systemic approach that introduces therapeutic genes capable of directing the body's cells to work more normally. This single-IV-injection approach is a foundation for future products that have the potential to bring about permanent improvements in congestive heart failure and type 2 diabetes patients.
The company's paracrine gene therapy approach was developed by Dr. H. Kirk Hammond, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, a cardiologist at the San Diego Veterans' Affairs Healthcare System, and co-founder of Renova Therapeutics. This approach involves sustained activity following systemic delivery of the therapeutic gene to the blood and distribution to other organs, where it can exert beneficial effects on target organs from a distance.
Paracrine gene therapy has been shown to dramatically improve animal models of type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases, including fatty liver disease and obesity. In proof-of-concept studies, after type 2 diabetes was established in animal models, a single dose of the paracrine gene therapy normalized these animals. In similar protocols in which animals were dosed initially prior to being fed a high-fat diet, treated animals did not develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime – signaling a potential for a preventative therapy.
Learn more about Renova Therapeutics and its gene therapy pipeline here: www.renovatherapeutics.com.
About Renova Therapeutics
Renova™ Therapeutics is developing definitive, one-time gene therapy treatments to restore the health of people suffering from chronic diseases. The first two indications the company is pursuing are therapies for congestive heart failure (CHF) and type 2 diabetes, two of the most common and devastating chronic diseases in the world. The company's lead investigational product, RT-100, is a new type of treatment that delivers a therapeutic gene directly to damaged heart tissue during a routine outpatient procedure and has the potential to renew heart function in millions of patients with CHF. The company's product pipeline also includes a second-generation therapy for CHF patients and a groundbreaking therapy in preclinical stage for sufferers of type 2 diabetes. Renova Therapeutics was founded in 2009 and is led by an experienced management team in biopharmaceuticals and gene therapy. For additional information about the company, please visit www.renovatherapeutics.com.
References:
1http://www.idf.org/diabetesatlas
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SOURCE Renova Therapeutics
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