Study published in Cell Metabolism Reveals New Therapeutic Approach Aimed at Restoring Vascular Health and Reversing Age-Rela...
February 08 2021 - 8:00AM
UNITY Biotechnology, Inc. (“UNITY”) [NASDAQ: UBX], a biotechnology
company developing therapeutics to slow, halt or reverse diseases
of aging, today announced new preclinical research that reveals a
novel mechanism for treating age-related eye diseases – such as
diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema – by restoring
vascular health in the retina. One of the limitations of current
standards of care for vascular diseases of the retina is that they
target both sick and healthy parts of the eye and hence can lead to
significant side-effects. By selectively eliminating the senescent
cells accumulating in diseased blood vessels of the eye,
researchers identified a way to target diseased vasculature while
leaving healthy blood vessels intact, thus enabling the retina to
repair itself. The study is featured in the April issue of the
peer-reviewed journal Cell Metabolism and is currently available
online.
A team of scientists from UNITY and University
of Montreal demonstrated that diseased blood vessels in the retina
trigger molecular pathways associated with aging, collectively
termed cellular senescence. The authors used a combination of
animal models and human samples to identify a molecular target,
called Bcl-xL, that is highly expressed in diseased retinal blood
vessels. Targeting these senescent cells with a single dose of
UNITY’s Bcl-xL small molecule inhibitor led to selective
elimination of diseased vasculature, while enabling functional,
healthy blood vessels to reorganize and regenerate.
“In this study, we showed that diseased blood
vessels in retinopathy are characterized by senescent cells and
that vasculature can be restored through senolytic therapeutics, in
this case a novel Bcl-xL inhibitor,” said Przemyslaw (Mike)
Sapieha, Ph.D., a lead author of the paper. “These findings suggest
that Bcl-xL inhibition has the potential to selectively target
diseased retinal blood vessels, while sparing healthy ones and
promoting more functional vasculature in the eye.”
According to the National Eye Institute, diabetic retinopathy is
the most prominent complication of diabetes and the leading cause
of blindness in working age individuals. They estimate that ~8
million Americans are afflicted by the eye disease and predicts the
incidence will double over the next 15 years. In diabetic
retinopathy, small calibre blood vessels feed the back of the eye
(retina), degenerate and re-grow in an abnormal manner. These “new”
vessels obstruct light and can leave scars in the retina.
UNITY is currently conducting a Phase 1 clinical trial of
UBX1325, a small molecule inhibitor of Bcl-xL, for the treatment of
diabetic macular edema, a common complication of diabetic
retinopathy. Initial results from the study are expected in the
first half of 2021.
“Bcl-xL inhibition may be the key to a new class of neovascular
retinal medicine, in which a targeted treatment allows the retina
to repair itself while eliminating diseased vasculature,” said
Anirvan Ghosh, chief executive officer of UNITY. “These findings
support the role cellular senescence plays in age-related eye
diseases and that senolytic medicines may provide not only a viable
strategy for promoting vasculature health, but an important new
treatment option for these debilitating diseases.”
The paper, titled “Pathological angiogenesis in retinopathy
engages cellular senescence and is amenable to therapeutic
elimination via BCL-xL inhibition,” is co-authored by a team of
scientists from the University of Montreal and UNITY Biotechnology.
The senior authors are Dr. Sapieha who recently joined UNITY as
chief scientific advisor, and Pam Tsuruda, Ph.D., of UNITY.
About UNITYUNITY is developing a new class of
therapeutics to slow, halt or reverse diseases of aging. UNITY’s
current focus is on creating medicines to selectively eliminate or
modulate senescent cells and thereby provide transformative benefit
in age-related ophthalmologic and neurologic diseases.
More information is available
at www.unitybiotechnology.com or follow us
on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release
contains forward-looking statements including statements related to
UNITY’s understanding of cellular senescence and the role it plays
in diseases of aging, the potential for UNITY to develop
therapeutics to slow, halt or reverse diseases of aging, including
for ophthalmologic and neurologic diseases, the potential for UNITY
to successfully commence and complete clinical studies of UBX1325
for diabetic macular edema and other ophthalmologic diseases, the
expected timing of initial results of the Phase 1 study of UBX1325
in diabetic macular edema, and UNITY’s expectations regarding the
sufficiency of its cash runway. These statements involve
substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity,
performance or achievements to be materially different from the
information expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements, including the risk that
the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic may continue to
negatively impact the development of preclinical and clinical drug
candidates, including delaying or disrupting the enrollment of
patients in clinical trials. We may not actually achieve the plans,
intentions or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking
statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our
forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ
materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in
the forward-looking statements we make. The forward-looking
statements in this press release represent our views as of the date
of this release. We anticipate that subsequent events and
developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may
elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in
the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the
extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely
on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of
any date subsequent to the date of this release. For a further
description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking
statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the
Company in general, see UNITY’s most recent Quarterly Report on
Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on November
4, 2020, as well as other documents that may be filed by UNITY from
time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Media
Canale Communications
Jason Spark
Jason.spark@canalecomm.com
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