Our Ideas

Critical care has many significant needs, so we have many potential solutions

 

Inhaled nitric oxide (iNO)     Read more

Pulmonary hypertension is an underlying cause of many critical conditions. When blood vessels in the lungs become constricted, elevated pressures can lead to inadequate oxygenation.1 Some of these conditions include:

  • Hypoxic respiratory failure (HRF): inadequate oxygen supply to the body's organs and tissues2,3
  • Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD): "a chronic lung condition that is caused by tissue damage to the lungs, is marked by inflammation, exudate, scarring, fibrosis, and emphysema, and usually occurs in immature infants who have received mechanical ventilation and supplemental oxygen as treatment for respiratory distress syndrome"4
  • Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a debilitating progressive disease of the pulmonary vasculature resulting in right heart failure and death5-7
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of lung diseases characterized by airflow obstruction that is not fully reversible8

 

Inspired by the promise of nitric oxide, our research and development program continues to expand the possibilities.9-12 We are actively searching for new uses for inhaled nitric oxide in special patient populations, and are conducting studies that address interesting scientific questions and significant medical needs for critical care patients.

 

Terlipressin: LUCASSIN® (terlipressin) for injection     Read more

Hepatorenal syndrome (HRS) Type 1 is a rare and often fatal condition of advancing kidney failure in patients with cirrhosis or other severe liver diseases.13 In many of these patients, a successful liver transplant is their only hope to restore normal kidney function in the long term.

 

Unfortunately, many patients with end-stage liver disease and HRS Type 1 may not survive long enough to receive a donor organ. Currently there is no FDA-approved pharmacological agent on the market to reverse HRS Type 1.

 

It is thought that terlipressin helps to increase the likelihood of HRS Type 1 reversal by redistributing blood flow to the kidneys. By jump-starting normal renal function, researchers believe terlipressin allows patients to get past the immediate crisis of HRS Type 1.13-16

 

IK-5001     READ MORE

Heart failure is a progressive disorder most commonly caused by an index event such as a myocardial infarction. Acute myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, frequently causes an alteration in the structure and function of the heart, referred to as cardiac remodeling. Because a portion of the heart muscle can no longer function, the rest of the heart must compensate. Under this extra workload, the heart muscle eventually dilates, the walls of the heart thin, and the heart further remodels, causing another cycle of dilation and overcompensation. This cardiac remodeling results in reduced heart function that typically leads to congestive heart failure (CHF) and morbidity.16

 

The American Heart Association estimates that over 935,000 Americans will suffer from acute myocardial infarction annually, with approximately one third estimated to suffer from the more serious ST-segment elevated acute myocardial infarction, or STEMI.17

 

IK-5001* is being studied for preventing cardiac remodeling18 and subsequent congestive heart failure following acute myocardial infarction. IK-5001 is administered in liquid form by injection after a heart attack. It is designed to flow into the damaged heart muscle where it forms a protective cast, or scaffold, to enhance the mechanical strength of the heart muscle during recovery and repair.†18

* IK-5001 – Licensed from BioLineRx (BL-1040).
† In animal disease models.

 

References

  1. Pulmonary hypertension. American Heart Association Web site. http://www.americanheart.org/print_presenter.jhtml;jsessionid= F33EDO1SO4S3GCQFCXPSDSQ?identifier=11076. Accessed May 15, 2009.
  2. The Neonatal Inhaled Nitric Oxide Study Group. Inhaled nitric oxide in full-term and nearly full-term infants with hypoxic respiratory failure. N Engl J Med. 1997;336(9):597-604.
  3. Hypoxia [definition]. Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 31st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2007:900.
  4. Bronchopulmonary dysplasia [definition]. MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/medlineplus/bronchopulmonary%20dysplasia. Accessed November 4, 2011.
  5. Anderson J, Nawarskas JJ. Pharmacotherapeutic management of pulmonary arterial hypertension. Cardiol Rev. 2010;18(3):148-162.
  6. McLaughlin VV, Archer SL, Badesch DB, et al. ACCF/AHA 2009 expert consensus document on pulmonary hypertension: a report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation Task Force on Expert Consensus Documents and the American Heart Association. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009;53(17):1573-1619.
  7. Thenappan T, Shah SJ, Rich S, Gomberg-Maitland M. A USA-based registry for pulmonary arterial hypertension: 1982-2006. Eur Respir J. 2007;30(6):1103-1110.
  8. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [definition]. MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/medlineplus/chronic%20obstructive%20pulmonary%20disease. Accessed November 4, 2011.
  9. Bloch KD, Ichinose F, Roberts JD Jr, Zapol WM. Inhaled NO as a therapeutic agent. Cardiovasc Res. 2007;75(2):339-348.
  10. Clark RH, Kueser TJ, Walker MW, et al; Clinical Inhaled Nitric Oxide Research Group. Low-dose nitric oxide therapy for persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. N Engl J Med. 2000;342(7):469-474.
  11. Kinsella JP, Abman SH. Inhaled nitric oxide in the premature newborn. J Pediatr. 2007;151(1):10-15.
  12. INOMAX [package insert]. Clinton, NJ: INO Therapeutics LLC; 2011.
  13. Döhler KD, Meyer M. Vasopressin analogues in the treatment of hepatorenal syndrome and gastrointestinal haemorrhage. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2008;22(2):335-350.
  14. Saner FH, Canbay A, Gerken G, Broelsch CE. Pharmacology, clinical efficacy and safety of terlipressin in esophageal varices bleeding, septic shock and hepatorenal syndrome. Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007;1(2):207-217.
  15. Sanyal AJ, Boyer T, Garcia-Tsao G, et al. A randomized, prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of terlipressin for type 1 hepatorenal syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2008;134(5):1360-1368.
  16. Fabrizi F, Dixit V, Martin P. Meta-analysis: terlipressin therapy for the hepatorenal syndrome. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2006;24(6):935-944.
  17. Mann DL, Bristow MR. Mechanisms and models in heart failure: the biomechanical model and beyond. Circulation. 2005;111(21):2837-2849.
  18. American Heart Association. Heart disease and stroke statistics: 2010 update. Circulation. 2010;121(7):e46-e215.
  19. Landa N, Miller L, Feinberg MS, et al. Effect of injectable alginate implant on cardiac remodeling and function after recent and old infarcts in rat. Circulation. 2008;117(11):1388-1396.

 

INOMAX is a registered trademark of INO Therapeutics LLC.

Lucassin is a registered trademark of Acorus Therapeutics Limited.