VS-041, a novel and potentially life-saving treatment for heart failure, developed by Vasa Therapeutics, a San Diego-based biotechnology company, has reached a major clinical milestone with the first human subjects dosed at Quotient Sciences’ Nottingham, UK clinic.
In this phase, Quotient Sciences’ Translational Pharmaceutics® platform was selected to accelerate the drug into first-in-human (FIH) trials. Quotient Sciences’ on-demand manufacture of an immediate release (IR) tablet allowed for dosing and generation of clinical data in a shortened time.
The clinical program and recruitment of healthy volunteers to take part in the Nottingham, UK-based Phase I trial was also performed by Quotient Sciences.
VS-041 is in development as the first personalized medicine-based treatment of HFpEF.
Heart failure is a major global health malady affecting 64 million people worldwide, placing a huge economic and social burden on health systems costing an estimated $108 billion per annum.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), or diastolic heart failure, is a life-threatening form of heart failure where the heart cannot properly fill with blood because the left ventricle has stiffened over time and cannot relax. It is estimated that more than half of heart failure patients develop HFpEF.
VS-041 has shown a robust reduction of cardiac fibrosis in preclinical HFpEF models by inhibiting the release of signalling collagen fragments, such as endotrophin (PRO-C6), that mediate fibroinflammatory responses and are biomarkers of worse outcomes in HFpEF patients. These data have been accepted for presentation at the American Heart Association’s 2024 Scientific Sessions conference in November.