Sarcopenia

The Phase 2 double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial will evaluate the potential of RJx-01 to maintain muscle integrity in older persons with severe acute exacerbation of COPD Rejuvenate Biomed anticipates commencing patient enrollment first half 2025 Oct. 28, 2024 -- Rejuvenate Biomed, the University of Leicester, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), and Wellcome Leap Inc. announced today that they have entered into an agreement to execute a Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-related sarcopenia. COPD is the third largest cause of mortality worldwide1, and one of the major long-term conditions leading to disability. While COPD is primarily a lung disease, it has significant systemic effects that extend beyond the respiratory system, including impaired skeletal muscle mass and function, also referred to as sarcopenia. Often, people living with COPD end up in hospital with a flare-up of their condition, where there is further worsening of their physical function. These systemic manifestations of sarcopenia for which therapeutic interventions are lacking, are important predictors of mortality, morbidity and healthcare utilization independent of the severity of lung function impairment. As such, there is a strong rationale for the development of pharmaceutical agents that target skeletal muscle dysfunction in patients with COPD to improve overall patient outcomes. In a Phase 1b trial, Rejuvenate Biomed’s novel combination drug RJx-01 demonstrated great potential as an oral treatment for sarcopenia, showing meaningful improvements in muscle strength, function, and fatigue resistance in people with disuse-induced muscle weakness. The new study, a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, will evaluate the safety and tolerability of RJx-01 in 130 older individuals following hospitalization with severe acute exacerbation of COPD. In addition, the effects of RJx-01 on physical function, muscle strength and fatiguability will be assessed. The clinical study is enabled by a multimillion dollar award from Wellcome Leap’s Dynamic Resilience program (co-funded by Temasek Trust). The Dynamic Resilience program aims to improve biological resilience in clinically vulnerable people at-risk of adverse outcomes after a stressor event, by identifying resilience biomarkers and mechanisms and facilitating proof-of-concept studies and clinical trials of potential preventative interventions. This study will be led by Dr. Neil Greening and Dr. Hamish McCauley from the NIHR Leicester BRC at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. “We are grateful for the support of NIHR Leicester BRC and Wellcome Leap as we explore the potential of RJx-01 as a treatment for patients living with COPD suffering from muscle weakness,” said Dr. Ann Beliën, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Rejuvenate Biomed. “Positive results from our recent Phase 1b study underscore RJx-01’s potential to prevent and treat sarcopenia induced by other conditions, and improve patients’ quality of life. We look forward to initiating this Phase 2 study in COPD patients.” Dr Neil Greening, Associate Professor at the University of Leicester, said, “Muscle wastage is a significant burden for many of our COPD patients and it can impact on their ability to recover, particularly when they are in hospital and experiencing exacerbations. Finding ways to maintain muscle function is increasingly important, which is why we're delighted to be working with Rejuvenate Biomed and on this world-first study, enabled by Wellcome Leap.” Prof Lynne Cox, Program Director of Wellcome Leap’s Dynamic Resilience program, added: “We urgently need treatments that can help prevent muscle wastage and frailty progression when people are hospitalized with acute illness, to enable them to return home and live safely and independently. We are therefore excited to support the globally excellent clinical, academic and industry teams in this study which addresses that major unmet need.” Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global Burden of Disease Study 2019 (GBD 2019) results. Seattle, WA: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2019 Rejuvenate Biomed is an AI-powered, clinical-stage biotech company decoding the biology of aging to develop safe, synergistic combination therapeutics that holistically address the root causes of age-related diseases. By targeting multiple disease pathways simultaneously, the company aims to provide more effective treatments that can alter the course of disease. Utilizing two clinically validated proprietary drug discovery platforms, the AI-enabled in silico CombinAge™ and in vivo CelegAge™, Rejuvenate Biomed has generated a robust pipeline of five unique combination drugs targeting different age-related diseases, including neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, metabolic, cardiovascular, nephrological, and neurodegenerative indications. Its lead Phase 2-ready asset, RJx-01, has already demonstrated significant potential in treating sarcopenia. The company’s disease agnostic drug discovery platforms continue to provide insight into future therapeutics, driving pipeline growth and potential partnerships. Rejuvenate Biomed is dedicated to promoting healthy aging. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) is part of the NIHR and hosted by the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, in partnership with the University of Leicester, Loughborough University and the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire National Health Service Group. The NIHR Leicester BRC undertakes translational clinical research in priority areas of high disease burden and clinical need. Wellcome Leap builds and executes bold, unconventional programs, funded at scale. Programs that aim to deliver breakthroughs in human health over 5 – 10 years. Founded in 2020, Leap programs target complex human health challenges with the goal of achieving breakthrough scientific and technological solutions. Operating at the intersection of life sciences and engineering, Leap programs require best-in-class, multi-disciplinary, global teams assembled from universities, companies, and nonprofits working together to solve problems that they cannot solve alone. The content above comes from the network. if any infringement, please contact us to modify.

Korea to develop AI-driven regional smart emergency platforms The South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) has announced seven more projects under the Korean Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) initiative. These include two AI-based emergency systems – one is a regional emergency system for patient classification and transfer and the other is a multi-institutional, real-time critical patient transfer management system. An integrated digital care solution to increase staff efficiency is also planned. There are also projects for early rare cancer screening among teenagers and people between the ages of 20-30; a system for rapid discovery and verification of new drug targets for non-immune solid cancers; medical technologies for space medicine; and a novel technology that simulates immunity based on microphysiological systems. The MOHW is now seeking partner institutes to work on these projects, which are targeted to begin in November. Each project has been allocated between 13 billion and 23 billion won ($9 million-$16.5 million) over the next five years. A total of 1.2 trillion won ($830 million) was earmarked for these projects until 2032. The Korean ARPA-H programme is a lineup of ambitious projects aiming to solve pressing national public healthcare and health challenges. Three initial projects – the development of vaccine storage technology, a decentralised vaccine production system, and multi-modal therapeutics targeting sarcopenia, were announced in July. New features live on Korea's My Health Record app The MOHW has also recently announced updates to the My Health Record application. The mobile app for the national health information system, My HealthWay , now allows users to view the health records of their children aged 14 and below and check information on drug allergies. It has also incorporated a new medication reminder feature. Recently, 144 hospitals and health facilities have been connected to My Healthway, allowing My Health Record app users to access their health information from these institutions. This brings the total number of institutions connected to the national system to approximately 1,004. Thai hospital collaborates with Samsung Medison Private healthcare group Bangkok Dusit Medical Services in Thailand has partnered with Seoul-based medical equipment maker Samsung Medison. Under their memorandum of understanding, the two companies will collaborate on such areas as medical imaging and AI. Earlier this year, Samsung Medison bought Sonio , a French ultrasound AI startup, adding to its portfolio of ultrasound diagnostics services and solutions. Hong Kong sets up digital health alliance The Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), a government-backed international IT hub, has reached out to local companies in various digital and IT spaces to form an alliance in digital health. Their alliance, according to a media release, "aims to collectively drive the growth of [an] international digital health ecosystem." The initial 12 partners in this alliance are expected to form their R&D bases at the Hong Kong Science Park. It includes one of China's biggest medical institutions – General Technology Healthcare and Medical Big Data Technology (Beijing) Group Co. – and rising technology startups such as elderly care-focused Infinity Wellness. "This strategic initiative will elevate the standard of global innovation in digital health, and accelerate the translation of scientific research into market-ready solutions," said HKSTP CEO Albert Wong.

Researchers at the International Space Station National Laboratory (ISS National Lab) and the University of Florida have modeled age-related muscle loss by using tissue chips in microgravity. According to researchers, the model can be used to test novel treatments and study sarcopenia, an age-related condition that causes loss of muscle mass, strength and function. Investigators determined that age-related muscle changes are difficult to study because they occur slowly over decades. In microgravity, muscle decline is accelerated, which allows researchers to examine muscle loss on a faster timescale. With funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers developed a muscle tissue chip system and tested whether microgravity-induced muscle loss in space copies age-related muscle loss on Earth. They found that the tissue chips contained muscle bundles engineered using skeletal muscle cells extracted from young, active adults and older, sedentary individuals. In addition, several of the tissue chips had electrodes that delivered electrical stimulation to induce contraction in the muscle bundles. Results from the investigation revealed that in microgravity, some genes linked to human muscle aging on Earth were upregulated (had increased expression) in the tissue chips containing cells from young active adults. The investigators concluded that the findings corroborate that the space-based muscle tissue chip system provides a precise model of age-related muscle loss and that the system offers a valuable new tool for researchers to enhance their understanding of sarcopenia and test new potential therapeutic options. "Through insight we gather from microgravity, we can understand not just the end result of [sarcopenia], but really look at the progressive change in young and old cells to see what happens as cells age," Siobhan Malany, principal investigator and associate professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Florida, said in a statement. Data from the research has been published in Upward, the official magazine of the ISS National Lab. THE LARGER TREND Today, it was announced that Biotech startup MicroQuin leveraged the International Space Station National Laboratory to grow 3D cultures of breast and prostate cancer cells in order to identify mechanisms behind the transformation of healthy cells into cancerous ones. Cancer cells on earth grow in a single layer because of gravity. But on the International Space Station, where gravity is greatly reduced, cells grow into 3D structures that more precisely reflect how tumors grow and act in the human body. According to Scott Robinson, MicroQuin founder and chief executive officer, results of the study led to a “massive paradigm shift” in the way scientists think about treatments for all types of cancer but for all cancers. In August, results of an experiment on the ISS revealed that in space, the absence of gravity leads to an unexpected occurrence: the formation of unusually large bubbles that more efficiently concentrate substances like cancer biomarkers for detection.