Verona Pharma Release: Paper Demonstrating That RPL554 Enhances CTFR Activation In Cystic Fibrosis Airway Epithelia Published In American Journal Of Physiology

11 November 2015, Cardiff - Verona Pharma plc (AIM: VRP.L), the drug development company focused on first-in-class medicines to treat respiratory diseases, announces that a paper examining the effect of Verona Pharma's dual PDE3/4 inhibitor, RPL554, on the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane conductance Regulator (CFTR), an anion channel that is mutated in cystic fibrosis (CF), has been published. The paper, entitled: "The dual phosphodiesterase 3 and 4 inhibitor RPL554 stimulates CFTR and ciliary beating in primary cultures of bronchial epithelia" was published on-line in the peer reviewed Journal "American Journal of Physiology - Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology" on 6 November 2015.

In pre-clinical models of CF, RPL554 was shown to have CFTR-stimulatory properties and that CFTR activation by RPL554 is mediated by its inhibition of PDE4 in cells from CF patients with the R117H/F508del mutation. RPL554-induced CFTR activity was further increased by the CFTR potentiator Kalydeco (ivacaftor, VX770) suggesting additional potential benefit by the drug combination.* The work was partly funded through the Venture and Innovation Award which Verona Pharma received from the UK CF Trust in November 2014.

RPL554 is Verona Pharma's lead pipeline asset. It is a first-in-class drug initially being evaluated in Phase II clinical trials as a nebulised treatment for acute exacerbations of COPD in the hospital setting.

Dr Jan-Anders Karlsson, the CEO of Verona Pharma, said:

"The results of this research further support our view that RPL554 has potential in a number of discrete indications. This peer-reviewed paper suggests that the drug could be a novel therapeutic option for the treatment of patients with cystic fibrosis. The data demonstrate that inhaled RPL554 activates CFTR, and stimulates an increase in ciliary beat frequency, thus having the potential to increase mucociliary clearance and as a consequence the ability to help to reinstate a central function impaired in this disease. We look forward to further exploring the possible use of RPL554 in cystic fibrosis, as well as reporting data from our Phase II trials of RPL554 in COPD and asthma in the first half of 2016."

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