Posted by Cyclarity Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company engineering cyclodextrin molecules into simple, scalable, and affordable therapies that bind and remove toxic targets to address root causes of age-related disease, has just unveiled data from a clinical trial of its lead candidate, UDP-003 at the American Heart Association Vascular Discovery Scientific Sessions.
Data from a study conducted at Monash Victorian Heart Institute (VHI), offers the first clinical evidence that 7-ketocholesterol (7KC), the root cause of atherosclerosis, 7-Ketocholesterol (7KC) can be safely targeted and removed from the human body, marking a pivotal milestone toward moving cardiovascular treatments from managing arterial damage to achieving true plaque reversal. Plaque reversal is significant because research suggests that even a 1% reduction in coronary plaque burden has been associated with up to 25% lower risk of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack or stroke.
Most cardiovascular drugs, including statins, anti-inflammatories, and RNA-based therapies, work systemically throughout the body to alter how cholesterol, inflammation, and gene expression are regulated. In contrast, Cyclarity’s UDP-003 binds directly to 7KC, the root cause of plaque buildup, then facilitates urinary excretion of it. Much like removing rust from metal, this approach directly targets a key source of damage within plaque with the goal of reversing and preventing atherosclerosis, a primary underlying cause of cardiovascular disease, and does so locally within the plaque to reduce risks of unintended systemic effects.
7KC is considered a biologically active driver of cardiovascular disease, contributing to inflammation, cell death, and plaque instability and has emerged as an important target in emerging therapies aimed at treating the disease at its root. In addition to cardiovascular disease, 7KC is implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), and other age-related conditions.
UDP-003 is the first clinical-stage therapeutic discovered using Cyclarity’s proprietary drug discovery AI Platform which engineers cyclodextrin molecules to reverse disease and protect against future accumulation of harmful molecules and aging pathologies.