Interview with doctor who is working on antifibrotic drug:
AM - Monday, 18 August , 2008 08:02:00
Reporter: Simon Lauder
TONY EASTLEY: Medical research makes leaps seemingly every week and while all the research in the world can't help children from becoming obese, it can hold great hope for others with life-threatening medical conditions.
Scientists in Melbourne say a drug they've developed has the potential to stop a condition which causes heart failure, kidney disease, diabetes and some lung and liver problems.
The drug is said to stop the spread of fibrosis which causes irreversible damage to vital organs.
Scientists at Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital and Melbourne University say if human trials are as successful as their trials on rats, the drug has the potential to save millions of lives.
Prof Darren Kelly led the research project and he's speaking here with Simon Lauder.
DARREN KELLY: It has been estimated that 40 to 45 per cent of diseases in the developed world could be associated with some sort of pathological fibrosis.
Our initial indication is looking at diabetic kidney disease but this could also have implications in heart failure, liver fibrosis, lung fibrosis and also other complications.
SIMON LAUDER: And you've developed a drug that you say can stop that kind of fibrosis?
DARREN KELLY: Well, we know at the moment in rat studies that our compounds inhibited the development of fibrosis and the interesting thing in the future would be to see whether we can actually reverse fibrosis but currently we have quite strong data showing that our compound prevents fibrosis from occurring.
SIMON LAUDER: And what evidence have you got for that at the moment?
DARREN KELLY: Well, we have looked at it in a series of animal models that are very predictive of clinical outcomes and hence the reason that we are quite confident that our data is robust.
SIMON LAUDER: Could this mean an end one day to kidney dialysis?
DARREN KELLY: Well, that is always what you would hope for. That is certainly our aim and our group is to at least delay the onset of dialysis but the ultimate aim would be certainly to prevent dialysis.
SIMON LAUDER: And what other problems do you think you could prevent?
DARREN KELLY: Well, it could be a treatment after people have heart attacks. A lot of the remodelling or the fibrosis that occurs in patients with heart attacks causes the heart to fail over the short term so it could be used to treat heart failure.
Also patients with liver cirrhosis and fibrosis and some of the lung conditions as well.
SIMON LAUDER: I understand this could be the first drug of its type in the world so what are the implications?
DARREN KELLY: Well, the implications are enormous actually. If it was the first of its kind on the market, it would be a huge step forward because there are currently no available antifibrotics on the market.
You know, it would be up there with some of the blockbuster drugs like the blood pressure lowering compounds. It would be a huge advance in medical knowledge.
SIMON LAUDER: It is still a way off though isn't it? You haven't done any human trials yet?
DARREN KELLY: Correct. We have just received a grant from the US Government to accelerate our development program and we are hoping to get into patients within the next 12 months or so.
TONY EASTLEY: Prof Darren Kelly from St Vincent's Hospital at the University of Melbourne speaking there with our reporter Simon Lauder.
AM - Monday, 18 August , 2008 08:02:00
Reporter: Simon Lauder
TONY EASTLEY: Medical research makes leaps seemingly every week and while all the research in the world can't help children from becoming obese, it can hold great hope for others with life-threatening medical conditions.
Scientists in Melbourne say a drug they've developed has the potential to stop a condition which causes heart failure, kidney disease, diabetes and some lung and liver problems.
The drug is said to stop the spread of fibrosis which causes irreversible damage to vital organs.
Scientists at Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital and Melbourne University say if human trials are as successful as their trials on rats, the drug has the potential to save millions of lives.
Prof Darren Kelly led the research project and he's speaking here with Simon Lauder.
DARREN KELLY: It has been estimated that 40 to 45 per cent of diseases in the developed world could be associated with some sort of pathological fibrosis.
Our initial indication is looking at diabetic kidney disease but this could also have implications in heart failure, liver fibrosis, lung fibrosis and also other complications.
SIMON LAUDER: And you've developed a drug that you say can stop that kind of fibrosis?
DARREN KELLY: Well, we know at the moment in rat studies that our compounds inhibited the development of fibrosis and the interesting thing in the future would be to see whether we can actually reverse fibrosis but currently we have quite strong data showing that our compound prevents fibrosis from occurring.
SIMON LAUDER: And what evidence have you got for that at the moment?
DARREN KELLY: Well, we have looked at it in a series of animal models that are very predictive of clinical outcomes and hence the reason that we are quite confident that our data is robust.
SIMON LAUDER: Could this mean an end one day to kidney dialysis?
DARREN KELLY: Well, that is always what you would hope for. That is certainly our aim and our group is to at least delay the onset of dialysis but the ultimate aim would be certainly to prevent dialysis.
SIMON LAUDER: And what other problems do you think you could prevent?
DARREN KELLY: Well, it could be a treatment after people have heart attacks. A lot of the remodelling or the fibrosis that occurs in patients with heart attacks causes the heart to fail over the short term so it could be used to treat heart failure.
Also patients with liver cirrhosis and fibrosis and some of the lung conditions as well.
SIMON LAUDER: I understand this could be the first drug of its type in the world so what are the implications?
DARREN KELLY: Well, the implications are enormous actually. If it was the first of its kind on the market, it would be a huge step forward because there are currently no available antifibrotics on the market.
You know, it would be up there with some of the blockbuster drugs like the blood pressure lowering compounds. It would be a huge advance in medical knowledge.
SIMON LAUDER: It is still a way off though isn't it? You haven't done any human trials yet?
DARREN KELLY: Correct. We have just received a grant from the US Government to accelerate our development program and we are hoping to get into patients within the next 12 months or so.
TONY EASTLEY: Prof Darren Kelly from St Vincent's Hospital at the University of Melbourne speaking there with our reporter Simon Lauder.