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Biopharma company Ocean Biomedical, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCEA) announced its commitment to developing viable treatment options for Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome (HPS) on Thursday. The company announced plans to target OCF-203, a lung fibrosis treatment candidate, as a therapy for the fatal lung fibrotic condition caused by HPS.
OCF-203
The company’s pulmonary fibrosis treatment is focused on inhibiting Chitinase 1 (Chit1) with OCF-203. Chit1 is also associated with Scleroderma-associated interstitial lung disease and bleomycin- and IL-13-induced lung fibrosis. Experiments have shown that OCF-203 can reduce collagen accumulation by 85-90%.
Discovered by Co-founder Ilmiah Ocean Biomedical, Dr. Jack A. Elias, and his colleagues at Brown University, have opened options for the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in patients with HPS, especially HPS-1 and HPS-4, the most deadly forms.
“My life’s work has been focused on caring for patients with lung diseases and it is difficult to see the limited treatment options available for many of these diseases. We are working to change that, and we are very excited about the broad therapeutic potential of this unique treatment pathway,” he said. Dr. Elias.
Expanded applications
Samudra’s anti-fibrosis platform aims to target unmet needs for conditions like Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome, and has the potential to expand further into other areas such as scleroderma, alcoholic liver disease, NASH, and kidney failure.
IPF is a lung condition that affects about 15 in 100,000 people worldwide, while HPS is a rare genetic condition that affects 1 in 750,000 people worldwide. Because both IPF and HPS are categorized as “rare diseases” under the Orphan Drug Act, they are eligible for potential orphan drug designation, and Ocean Biomedical said it is moving toward an IND submission for OCF-203 with both patient populations.
“We are pleased to see the strong results generated in our anti-fibrosis platform, and we are proud to move forward, especially for patients with conditions like HPS who currently do not have effective treatment options,” said Elizabeth Ng, CEO. from Ocean Biomedical.
Also read: Ocean Biomedical presents novel malaria therapeutic discovery at NIH Laboratory of Malaria Vaccinology and Immunology
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