Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation researcher goes to Korea to present ViroMed study results
MINNEAPOLIS 11/18/2008--Minneapolis researcher Tim Henry, MD, will give an update next week in Korea on Phase One of a therapeutic angiogenesis trial being completed by the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. He will be presenting at the Second Annual Korean Society of Gene Therapy Symposium at Seoul National University on November 28, 2008.
ViroMed, the company that is sponsoring the study, recently completed enrollment for the first phase of its VM202 clinical trial, a gene-based therapy for peripheral artery disease, at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. It is the first gene-therapy clinical trial to be completed by the Korean-based company in the U.S.
The VM202 treatment for critical limb ischemia (CLI), one of the severest types of peripheral artery disease (PAD), is directed at restoration of blood flow to affected areas through regenerative angiogenesis. The term angiogenesis describes interventions that stimulate or induce new blood vessel growth.
"Therapeutic angiogenesis is a novel strategy for the treatment of cardiac and vascular diseases. The use of gene therapy products such as VM202 represents a potentially significant advance in this area of medicine," said Dr. Henry, an interventional cardiologist and director of research at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.
Under Dr. Henry's direction, ViroMed is studying the results of VM202 for the treatment of CLI, which results from severe obstruction of arteries due to advanced peripheral artery disease (PAD).
"We are very pleased to have completed enrollment for this clinical trial and look forward to the results," said Dr. Sunyoung Kim, president and chief executive officer of ViroMed. "VM202 may be able to reverse ischemic processes, reducing patient pain and incidence of ulceration."
Peripheral artery disease (PAD)
PAD is one of the most common cardiovascular diseases. In patients with PAD, arteries that carry blood to the legs become narrowed or clogged and can cause muscle fatigue, cramping or pain.
Over 9 million Americans have PAD, and it affects more than 20 percent of individuals over 70. PAD increases the risk of heart attack or stroke by four to five times and is the most common cause of leg amputation.
Alan Hirsch, MD, director of the vascular medicine program at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and lead author of the National Guidelines on PAD notes, "PAD is the single most dangerous cardiovascular disease in the US and has extremely high rates of heart attack, stroke, amputation and death in the first year."
More about ViroMed
ViroMed Co., of Seoul, Korea, is a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel gene and protein-based therapeutics for human diseases established in 1996. ViroMed specializes in areas with clear unmet needs: cardiovascular diseases, genetic disorders and cancer.
More about the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation at Abbott Northwestern Hospital is creating a world without heart disease through groundbreaking clinical research and innovative educational programs.
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