Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • Client Login
  • Send a Release
Return to PR Newswire homepage
  • News
  • Products
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • All Public Company
      • English-only
      • News Releases Overview

      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
      • Multimedia Gallery Overview

      • Trending Topics

      • All Trending Topics
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • All Automotive & Transportation
      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • Auto & Transportation Overview

      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • All Business Technology
      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • Business Technology Overview

      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • All Entertain­ment & Media
      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • Entertain­ment & Media Overview

      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • All Financial Services & Investing
      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • Financial Services & Investing Overview

      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • All General Business
      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • General Business Overview

      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • All Consumer Technology
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • Consumer Technology Overview

      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • All Energy
      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • Energy & Natural Resources Overview

      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • All Environ­ment
      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • Environ­ment Overview

      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing Overview

      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • All Telecomm­unications
      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • Telecomm­unications Overview

      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • All Consumer Products & Retail
      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • Consumer Products & Retail Overview

      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • All Entertain­ment & Media
      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • Entertain­ment & Media Overview

      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • All Health
      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • Health Overview

      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • All Sports
      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • Sports Overview

      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • All Travel
      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • Travel Overview

      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • All Policy & Public Interest
      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • Policy & Public Interest Overview

      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • All People & Culture
      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • People & Culture Overview

      • View All People & Culture

      • In-Language News

      • Arabic
      • español
      • português
      • Česko
      • Danmark
      • Deutschland
      • España
      • France
      • Italia
      • Nederland
      • Norge
      • Polska
      • Portugal
      • Россия
      • Slovensko
      • Suomi
      • Sverige
  • Overview
  • Distribution by PR Newswire
  • AI Tools
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • Guaranteed Paid Placement
  • SocialBoost
  • All Products
  • General Inquiries
  • Editorial Bureaus
  • Partnerships
  • Media Inquiries
  • Worldwide Offices
  • Hamburger menu
  • PR Newswire: news distribution, targeting and monitoring
  • Send a Release
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us

      888-776-0942
      from 8 AM - 10 PM ET

  • Send a Release
  • Client Login
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
    • Trending Topics
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Client Login
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS
  • Overview
  • Distribution by PR Newswire
  • AI Tools
  • Multichannel Amplification
  • SocialBoost
  • All Products
  • Send a Release
  • Client Login
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS
  • General Inquiries
  • Editorial Bureaus
  • Partnerships
  • Media Inquiries
  • Worldwide Offices
  • Send a Release
  • Client Login
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Journalists
  • RSS

CalciMedica Announces Publication of Preclinical Data in Journal of Immunology Further Validating Calcium Release-Activated Calcium (CRAC) Channels as Drug Targets for Diseases of the Airways

Data provides further evidence of the broad potential for CRAC channel inhibitors to benefit patients across multiple disease areas involving the lungs

CalciMedica Logo (PRNewsfoto/CalciMedica, Inc.)

News provided by

CalciMedica

Sep 09, 2021, 08:00 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

LA JOLLA, Calif., Sept. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CalciMedica Inc. ("CalciMedica" or the "Company"), the CRAC channel company, today announced the publication of preclinical data validating calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels, P2Y2 receptors, and P2X receptors as potential drug targets for diseases of the airways in the peer-reviewed Journal of Immunology. The study highlighted in the publication, Differential Regulation of ATP- and UTP-Evoked Prostaglandin E2 and IL-6 Production from Human Airway Epithelial Cells, was conducted at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Professor Murali Prakriya's laboratory, and the manuscript was co-authored by CalciMedica co-founder and chief scientific officer Kenneth A. Stauderman, Ph.D. and researchers from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

"These are exciting results that build on the work that CalciMedica is already doing to enhance our understanding of CRAC channels and their important role in controlling normal function of many cell types," said Dr. Stauderman. "In this study, we saw further evidence that activation of CRAC channels plays a key role in controlling the synthesis and release of inflammatory modulators from pulmonary epithelial cells, which has therapeutic implications. CRAC channel inhibitors have previously shown efficacy in preclinical models of asthma. In addition, CalciMedica is currently conducting a Phase 2 clinical trial with clinical investigators at Northwestern to test our CRAC channel inhibitor AuxoraTM in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia who are mechanically ventilated and suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The preclinical results published last week present further evidence that this approach could potentially benefit patients with diseases affecting the airways including ARDS and asthma, by dampening chronic inflammation in the lungs."

The published results show that CRAC channels serve as a signaling nexus to the airway epithelial cells (AECs), which employ unique, receptor-specific signaling mechanisms to regulate the release of opposing immunomodulatory mediators. AECs lining the conducting passageways of the lung secrete a variety of factors that modulate inflammation, including prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), which limits lung inflammation and promotes the dilation of the airways, and IL-6, which drives intense airway inflammation, leading to damage and scarring of the lung tissue. In this study, scientists demonstrated that extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a damage-associated molecule pattern, stimulates the production of PGE2 and IL-6 by AECs, but at different levels of ATP. ATP-mediated synthesis of PGE2, was achieved by activating cell surface metabotropic P2Y2 receptors and CRAC channel-mediated cPLA2 signaling. In contrast, ATP-evoked synthesis of IL-6 occurred when the scientists activated P2X receptors and CRAC channel-mediated calcineurin/nuclear factor of activated T cell (NFAT) signaling. These results demonstrate that CRAC channels are essential for both PGE2 synthesis and IL-6 secretion, making CRAC channels potential drug targets for diseases affecting the lungs.

"These study results are significant both from a scientific and a therapeutic perspective," said Dr. Prakriya. "By elucidating the mechanistic link between CRAC channels and the inflammatory modulators PGE2 and IL-6, which has historically not been well understood, we can better understand how targeting the CRAC channels can potentially treat diseases of the lungs."

"This study builds on our growing body of research indicating that CRAC channel inhibitors can potentially improve patient outcomes in both acute critical illnesses and in certain chronic diseases," said Rachel Leheny, Ph.D., chief executive officer of CalciMedica. "We continue to study the role that CRAC channel inhibitors play in modulating the adaptive immune response, as well as in mediating toxicity due to calcium overload in certain pathologies, while advancing multiple clinical trials evaluating Auxora in several indications including acute pancreatitis and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure associated with COVID-19."

About Auxora

CalciMedica's lead product candidate is Auxora, a potent and selective intravenous (IV) formulated small molecule CRAC channel inhibitor that prevents acute epithelial and/or endothelial cell injury and inflammation in organs, such as the pancreas and lungs. Auxora is currently being evaluated in multiple ongoing clinical trials: a blinded, placebo-controlled Phase 2b trial in patients with acute pancreatitis with accompanying systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), a Phase 2 dose-escalation trial in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) requiring invasive mechanical ventilation, and an investigator-initiated Phase 1/2 trial in pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) patients who develop acute pancreatitis as a result of a specific chemotherapy. Auxora has been evaluated in CARDEA, a 284-patient randomized, placebo-controlled trial in hospitalized COVID-19 pneumonia patients that was Part Two of a Phase 2 study. Results of Part One of the Phase 2 study, a randomized open label trial in 30 critical and severe COVID-19 pneumonia patients, were published in the peer reviewed journal, Critical Care, in August 2020. Results of a randomized open label Phase 2a trial in 21 acute pancreatitis patients with SIRS was published in the peer reviewed journal, Pancreas, in June 2021.

About CalciMedica, Inc.

CalciMedica is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing a new class of medicines designed to act upon calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels, a group of ion channel targets not addressed by any approved drugs. CalciMedica is developing CRAC channel inhibitors for unmet needs in acute critical illness and looks to expand the potential uses of CRAC channel inhibitors to certain chronic diseases that have the common thread of inflammation in their pathogenesis. The Company has a portfolio of potent and selective small molecule CRAC channel inhibitors including Auxora, its lead product candidate, which is formulated as a proprietary IV nanoemulsion specifically designed for acute critical illnesses.

CalciMedica is headquartered in La Jolla, CA. For more information, please visit the company website at www.calcimedica.com.

SOURCE CalciMedica

Related Links

http://www.calcimedica.com

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

icon3
440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers
icon1
9k+
Digital Media
Outlets
icon2
270k+
Journalists
Opted In
GET STARTED

Modal title

Contact PR Newswire

  • Call PR Newswire at 888-776-0942
    from 8 AM - 9 PM ET
  • Chat with an Expert
  • General Inquiries
  • Editorial Bureaus
  • Partnerships
  • Media Inquiries
  • Worldwide Offices

Products

  • For Marketers
  • For Public Relations
  • For IR & Compliance
  • For Agency
  • All Products

About

  • About PR Newswire
  • About Cision
  • Become a Publishing Partner
  • Become a Channel Partner
  • Careers
  • Accessibility Statement
  • APAC
  • APAC - Simplified Chinese
  • APAC - Traditional Chinese
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Czech
  • Denmark
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Japan
  • Korea
  • Mexico
  • Middle East
  • Middle East - Arabic
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Russia
  • Slovakia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • United Kingdom
  • Vietnam

My Services

  • All New Releases
  • Platform
  • ProfNet
  • Data Privacy

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact PR Newswire

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Platform
  • ProfNet
Call PR Newswire at
888-776-0942
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Information Security Policy
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookies
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.