An American suffers a stroke every fifty-three seconds. Over three million cases are reported annually. More than 160,000 people will die. The economic costs are profound as well. Stroke costs the United States more than $30 billion annually and is responsible for over 600,000 emergency room visits each year. And as troubling as these figures are, they only hint at the human cost. Vicor is determined to empower doctors and EMT personnel with drugs which can reduce stroke damage.
A New Line of Attack Against Stroke,
Myocardial Infarction, Obesity, Hypertension…and More
Vicor Therapeutics discovers and develops new drugs based on bioactive molecules derived from “altered-state” physiologies such as hibernation, REM sleep, and pregnancy.
A Hypothesis Bears Fruit
Hibernation is not a single event, but a complex, carefully-ordered sequence of physiological changes. To hibernate, an animal must suppress its hunger, down-regulate temperature, respiration, and pulse, reduce its blood pressure, recycle (rather than excrete) its urea, and many other changes; and then reverse the sequence after the appropriate period.
Vicor’s scientists theorized that these disparate changes were mediated at least in part by specific molecules potentially identifiable by comparing normal and hibernating states. Further, the possibility existed that some of the compounds might be bioactive — and non-toxic — in non-hibernating species.
These theories proved correct. Vicor has succeeded in identifying several compounds, which in early animal trials in non-hibernating species show great promise to ameliorate stroke, protect cardiac tissue from heart attack damage, reduce blood pressure, suppress appetite and cancer cell growth, and extend organ preservation time in transplant applications, and more.
Stroke — A Revolution in the Making
Vicor has identified compounds that radically reduce damage from stroke in an experimental animal model.
The ability of Vicor’s compounds to reduce stroke damage stems from the fact that in a typical stroke case, most cell loss stems not from the initial vessel clot or rupture, but from a cascade of changes occurring in the first hours following the event. It is during this ischemic cascade that inflammation, bleeding, and the release of harmful chemicals endanger a much larger area called the stroke’s penumbra.
As illustrated above, in animal trials Vicor’s molecule slowed or halted the ischemic cascade, dramatically reducing damage from stroke, even when administered as many as six hours after the original insult.
Vicor Molecule Shows Promise Against Heart Attack
Cardiovascular disease is the leading killer in the U.S. – larger than stroke and cancer combined. Nearly eight million Americans will have a heart attack this year. Vicor Therapeutics has identified a molecule that radically reduces heart muscle damage from heart attacks.
The photographs below demonstrate the protective effect of this compound in an animal model of myocardial infarction. On the left is the control, or unprotected, ischemic heart, which exhibits normal amounts of infarcted tissue. On the right is an ischemic heart protected by the Vicor compound, exhibiting no infarction whatsoever. (Move the mouse over the photographs to highlight the infarction in the unprotected heart on the left.
By bringing this compound to market, Vicor hopes to play an important role in improving the lives of victims of cardiovascular disease.
Proprietary Vicor Neuropeptide is a Powerful, Non-Toxic Anti-Hypertensive
Vicor Therapeutics has isolated a small molecule that normalizes high blood pressure in most hypertensive animal models. Unlike many current anti-hypertensives, the Vicor molecule does not provoke undesirable side-effects in clinical animal trials.
Additional Applications
Vicor has also identified compounds which show promise to:
- suppress appetite
- increase organ preservation time for transplantation
- ameliorate uremic toxicity in kidney failure and anesthesia recovery.
Status of Therapeutics Platform
Vicor suspended research on its Therapeutics platform.in 2003 to conserve cash and focus on the commercialization of the PD2i Analyzer™. Vicor Therapeutics remains in the pre-clinical testing phase while the company awaits patent issuances and sufficient funding to enable continuation.
Vicor’s patent counsel has advised the Company that one or more patents related to the therapeutic platform should be issued this year.
Vicor continues to pursue patent coverage in other jurisdictions, and recently received three international patents relating to its Therapeutics platform.
Learn More About Vicor Therapeutics
To learn more about Vicor Therapeutics, contact Vicor at 877.528.PD2i (7324), or refer to our Contact page.
