MERAND PHARMACEUTICALS, INC.
microRNA Therapeutics for Treating Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) and other Cardiovascular Disorders
A New Paradigm for Treating PAD
Merand is developing a microRNA called MPMI-93 that has the potential to alter the course for patients with PAD.
A critical problem with PAD is lack of blood getting into the muscle, resulting in pain:
- MPMI-93 promotes formation of new blood vessels in the affected limb.
Previous strategies attempted to improve blood flow to muscles that lacked oxygen resulted in leaky blood vessels:
MPMI-93 promotes formation of non-leaky, functional blood vessels.
PAD causes inflammation in the affected limb. Inflammation in legs with low blood flow injures blood vessels and worsens the delivery of blood:
MPMI-93 reduces inflammation.
Merand will initiate is Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with PAD shortly. Check back shortly for more information about this clinical study.
What is PAD
PAD is a complication of systemic atherosclerosis, often called hardening of the arteries, that leads to reduced blood flow to the legs. The most common problem seen in patients with PAD is pain with walking or claudication; a highly debilitating condition which prevents over half of PAD walking more than 1 city block. Patients with PAD can suffer numbness in the affected limb, ulcers, gangrene, amputation and eventually, death.
CLAUDICATION
CLAUDICATION
NUMBNESS
NUMBNESS
ULCERS
ULCERS
GANGRENE
GANGRENE
AMPUTATION
AMPUTATION
DEATH
DEATH
PAD is the #1 cause of amputation in adults.
Patients with PAD suffer from higher than expected rates of heart attach, stroke and death, even in the presence of “optimal medical therapy”.
MPMI-93 has the potential to treat legs and life.
Merand’s Solution: MPMI-93 in PAD
MicroRNA (miRNA) are small naturally-occurring RNAs that work in cell and condition specific manner to regulate multiple genes and pathways; especially in response to injury. microRNA-93 (MPMI-93) is an important regulator of blood vessel formation and its levels are reduced in the muscles from patients with PAD.
A feature that distinguishes MPMI-93 from other agents that have been tested and failed in PAD studies, is that MPMi-93 (miR-93) grows stable (not leaky) blood vessels
MPMI-93 promotes a shift in macrophages in muscle from a pro-inflammatory (M1-like) to a reparative (M-2) anti-inflammatory state that will:
- exert an indirect effect on endothelial cells in ischemic muscle to allow better growth and function.
- exert an effect on macrophages that will limit the production of inflammatory cytokines that can assess the circulation and increase risk of heart disease.
“As a clinician who treats patients with advanced PAD, I have been frustrated by the lack of any truly effective therapies. I undertook a research program to identify a molecules that could promote blood flow in “challenging” models of PAD; models where other drugs have failed. We found that MPMI-93 not only worked to improve blood flow in these models, but also reduced inflammation.”
Dr. Brian Annex
Chief Medical Officer, Merand