DENVER, May 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Myogen, Inc., a Colorado-based
biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and
commercializing drugs for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, announced
that Michael Bristow, M.D., Ph.D., a scientific founder and the Chief Science
and Medical Officer of Myogen, and his research team at the University of
Colorado Health Sciences Center has published a study in the May issue of the
New England Journal of Medicine that provides further validation to the
Company's drug discovery efforts in chronic heart failure (CHF).
In 1997, Dr. Bristow and his team discovered that the deterioration of the
performance of the heart in patients who develop CHF is linked to a change in
gene expression in their heart muscle cells. Certain genes that were turned
off shortly after birth are reactivated in the disease. Although this
response, which is termed the "reactivation of the fetal gene program", may
initially be beneficial to a patient with CHF, it becomes harmful as the
disease progresses. One focus of Myogen's discovery research program is on
identifying the set of fetal genes that are reactivated in CHF, understanding
the consequences of their reactivation and discovering the means to control
their expression as a therapy for CHF.
In the study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Bristow
monitored the changes in gene expression of heart muscle cells collected in
serial biopsies from patients being treated with standard therapies plus
metoprolol or carvedilol, beta-blocking agents previously shown to improve the
survival of patients with CHF. The results of the study demonstrated that
patients who improved during the treatment period exhibited a return to normal
gene expression by their heart muscles cells, i.e., the fetal gene program was
deactivated, whereas patients who did not improve did not exhibit this
normalization. This observation is significant in supporting the hypothesis
that reactivation of the fetal gene program underlies the progression of CHF.
"The results of this study have two important implications to drug
development for CHF," said Dr. Bristow. "We have now demonstrated the
potential of using serial gene expression analysis to directly track the
molecular changes that occur in patients as they respond to therapy. We
believe that this is a powerful new tool for validating drug targets and
therapeutic candidates. These data also provide further validation of the
potential therapeutic benefit of reversing the fetal gene program as a
treatment for chronic heart failure."
"We find these results to be very important in validating the strategy of
our CHF drug discovery programs. Our approach has been to develop an
understanding of the mechanisms that control the expression of the fetal gene
program in heart muscle cells. We have established a proprietary position by
patenting aspects of these control mechanisms that appear to be important.
These new data reinforce our belief that these proprietary targets will be
valuable as points for intervention in the progression of CHF," commented J.
William Freytag, Ph.D., president and CEO of Myogen.
Chronic heart failure is a debilitating condition that occurs as the heart
becomes progressively less able to pump an adequate supply of blood throughout
the body. It is estimated that half of all patients with CHF die within five
years of diagnosis. CHF is one of the largest health problems in the
developed world, with annual healthcare costs in the United States alone
exceeding $20 billion. In the United States, approximately 4.8 million
patients are afflicted with CHF, with an additional 550,000 new cases reported
each year.
Myogen is a Colorado-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the
discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutic drugs for the
treatment cardiovascular disease. The company believes that its advanced
understanding of the molecular biology and clinical medicine of cardiovascular
disease provides it the capability to discover novel therapies that address
segments of the cardiovascular patient population that are not adequately
treated by existing therapies. The company currently markets one product in
Europe for the acute treatment of advanced heart failure, has two product
candidates in late-stage clinical development for three cardiovascular
indications and has developed a portfolio of molecular therapeutic targets
that it believes play key roles in heart disease. Its lead product candidates
are enoximone and ambrisentan. Myogen occupies 22,000 square feet of
laboratory and office space in the Denver, Colorado area and currently has
approximately 40 employees. Please visit our website at http://www.myogen.com .
SOURCE Myogen, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.myogen.com
CONTACT:
J. William Freytag, Ph.D., President & CEO,
+1-303-464-5221, or Joseph L. Turner, Chief Financial Officer,
+1-303-464-5222, both of Myogen, Inc.
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