NITRIC OXIDE-BASED MEDICINES FOR ACUTE RENAL FAILURE

Nitric-Oxide-Based Medicines for Acute Renal Failure. Acute renal failure is characterized as a sudden deterioration in kidney function and affects about 5% of all hospitalized patients. The condition is often associated with trauma, burns, systemic infections and shock. It is a serious and life threatening condition from which more than half of the affected patients die. Currently, there are no effective drug therapies for acute renal failure. Disease management is costly and includes kidney dialysis and transplantation. NO plays a pivotal role in kidney homeostasis at the level of the renal vasculature, glomerulus, and renal tubule. All three subtypes of NO synthase (endothelial, neuronal and inducible) are expressed in various kidney structures and participate in the control of glomerular and medullary hemodynamics, tubuloglomerular feedback responses, the renin-angiotensin system, and electrolyte/fluid balance through endogenous generation of NO.

In February 2004 NitroMed signed a licensing and commercialization agreement with the University of Edinburgh and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to research NO-based medicines with the goal of identifying treatment of acute renal failure. NitroMed's agreement with the universities supports a healthcare innovations technology transfer program funded by the Wellcome Trust, which is focused on the development of early stage projects to a point where they can be further developed by the commercial sector.