Genkyotex’ Lead Product Shows Promise in Osteoporosis
Genkyotex, the leading developer of NOX enzyme inhibitors, announced today that a group of collaborators have discovered a link between the enzyme NOX4 and development of osteoporosis. These results, published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation indicate that inhibitors of NOX4, such as GKT137831 developed by Genkyotex, could lead to a novel way of treating patients with osteoporosis.
Genkyotex has identified novel NOX inhibitors with the potential to treat disease areas with a high clinical need and large market potential. The company’s lead product, GKT137831, is now entering Phase II clinical studies in patients with diabetic nephropathy and has shown promise in several other disease models, including atherosclerosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, liver fibrosis and models of angiogenesis. A new publication indicates that GKT137831 could also lead to a novel way of treating patients with osteoporosis.
“Osteoporosis is a common disease of bone that causes fractures and pain in almost one in three women,” said Prof. Katrin Schröder, Institute of Cardiovascular Physiology, Faculty of Medicine at the Goethe University, Frankfurt. “Data from our studies clearly indicate that NOX4 plays a role in osteoclast generation, which triggers bone resorption and loss. In our studies we found that NOX4 was induced in human osteoporosis, and inhibiting NOX4 could reduce bone loss in mice.”
Dr. Ursula Ney, CEO of Genkyotex commented: “The data from these studies provide compelling evidence for a role of NOX4 in the development of osteoporosis and builds on the growing evidence of the NOX enzymatic pathway in a number of common and often difficult to treat diseases, as well as confirming the therapeutic potential for our small molecule NOX inhibitors. Genkyotex will continue to assess the therapeutic potential of NOX4 inhibition in bone loss, including in patients with chronic kidney disease.”
About Genkyotex
Genkyotex is developing first in class, small molecule therapeutics that specifically and selectively inhibit the NOX family of enzymes. Genkyotex was founded in 2006 by scientists from Switzerland, the USA and Japan, with backing from Geneva incubator Eclosion. Leading global investors Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Vesalius BioCapital and MP Healthcare Venture Management have joined Eclosion in providing significant investment to Genkyotex.
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