CUMBERLAND, Md., Aug. 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RS BioTherapeutics, a life sciences company developing life-changing medicines for the millions of people suffering from diseases characterized by pulmonary inflammation, has entered into a Research Collaboration Agreement with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), an institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to assess the anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic potential of RS BioTherapeutics’ lead compound, RSBT-001, in a preclinical pulmonary fibrosis model.
According to NIH, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a serious, chronic disease that affects the tissue surrounding the air sacs, or alveoli, in the lungs. This condition develops when lung tissue becomes thick and stiff for unknown reasons. Over time, these changes can cause permanent scarring in the lungs, called fibrosis, that makes it progressively more difficult to breathe.
IPF is a rare disease with limited treatment options that is often described as one of insidious decline in lung function resulting in progression to respiratory failure and death within approximately four to five years after the initial diagnosis. In addition to a poor prognosis, IPF has a significant deleterious impact on patients’ quality of life.
Commentating on the Research Collaboration Agreement with NIH, Michelle L. Shuffett, MD, Chief Medical Officer of RS BioTherapeutics said, “We are incredibly pleased to be working in a collaborative manner with NIH to evaluate our cornerstone compound, RSBT-001, in an animal pulmonary fibrosis model. IPF is a devastating, rare disease for which there is no known cure and while the multi-dimensional aspects of IPF will certainly test the capabilities of any agent, the significant impact IPF has on patients’ quality of life is a motivating force for us in exploring how RSBT-001 may affect this dreaded disease.”
The collaborative research protocol with NIH includes evaluation of RSBT-001 in a fibrosis induced mouse model and will evaluate four key endpoints identified by the American Thoracic Society as important for preclinical therapeutic assessment of IPF agents: lung histology, biochemical measures, levels of profibrotic gene expression, and pulmonary function parameters.
RS BioTherapeutics CEO, Dean Hart, added, “We are looking forward to understanding how RSBT-001 might play a role in the prevention and/or treatment of IPF, which impacts approximately 200,000 people in the United States with 50,000 new cases diagnosed each year. This research along with our continued development of RSBT-001 for COPD, the third leading cause of death in the world, is strongly aligned with our mission of developing life-changing medicines for the millions of people suffering from diseases characterized by pulmonary inflammation.”
About RS BioTherapeutics
The mission of RS BioTherapeutics is to develop life-changing medicines for the millions of people suffering from diseases characterized by pulmonary inflammation. RS BioTherapeutics’ first investigational compound (RSBT-001) is a first-in-class therapeutic in development as an alternative to corticosteroids for the treatment of respiratory diseases characterized by pulmonary inflammation including COPD, SARS-COV-2, Cystic Fibrosis, Asthma, Bronchitis, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. RSBT-001 harnesses the immune modulating power of specific, anti-inflammatory cannabinoids delivered by a proprietary, polarity adaptive transport mechanism and reduces pulmonary inflammation by targeting the inflammatory cascade in the lungs at multiple levels. RS BioTherapeutics is targeting an IND filing for RSBT-001 in early 2025.
Media Contact:
David Gutierrez, Dresner Corporate Services for RS BioTherapeutics, (312) 780-7204, dgutierrez@dresnerco.com
