Vagonixen™

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive disease that permanently damages the lungs and is usually caused by smoking. COPD is comprised of both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and is on track to become the third leading cause of death by the year 2020. Currently, about 120,000 Americans die each year from COPD. Approximately 16 million patients in the U.S. alone are afflicted with this disease. COPD costs about $42 billion a year in medical bills and lost productivity. On November 29, 2007, The New York Times wrote that COPD is “the largest uncontrolled epidemic in the United States today.”

Currently, COPD is treated by physicians with a combination of oral steroids, anticholinergics and asthmatic medications. Bronchodilation is a hallmark of current therapy for COPD. ATP is known to cause bronchoconstriction and cough in normal subjects, and more so in patients with obstructive airway diseases. Abnormally high levels of ATP have been measured in the lungs of COPD patients. Duska’s proprietary technology is comprised of the selective blockade of specific P2R in the lungs that mediate the bronchoconstrictive cough-inducing actions of ATP. By blocking nerve impulses in the afferent neural traffic, bronchoconstriction, cough and neurogenic inflammation should be inhibited in COPD patients.

Duska is identifying lead compounds that could be developed for the treatment of COPD and chronic cough.

Legend: ATP activates P2X2/3 receptors on vagal sensory nerve terminals in the lungs and thereby induces bronchoconstriction, cough and neurogenic inflammation

Duska Therapeutics

info@duskatherapeutics.com

At the heart of cardiovascular medicine