Projects Profile
Project Title
Development of anti-fibrotic drugs from Chinese Herbs
Partnership
Dr Qihe Xu and Prof Bruce Hendry, King's College London
Dr Qing Xu and Prof Xinmiao Liang, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics Chinese Academy of Sciences
(DICP)
Project Aim
This project will draw on the research expertise from King’s on fibrosis biology and assay models and that from DICP on TCM and compound purification to carry out a joint research to extend the collaboration to i) validate activities of previously identified compounds in mouse models and validate two novel in vitro and in vivo antifibrostic bioassays; ii) identify new anti-fibrotic moieties using in vitro screening of additional TCM herb extracts, and iii) develop a streamlined and reproducible methodology for chemical isolation, processing and mapping of herbal medicines.
Inspiration for the projects
Fibrosis or sclerosis is scarring of different organs, which often leads to chronic organ failure. It affects all organs, including liver, heart, lungs and kidneys and is a leading cause of mortality world-wide. Currently, there is no specific anti-fibrotic drug and therefore the condition represents an important therapeutic area of unmet need.
KCL and DICP have collaborated in exploring inflammation-independent anti-fibrotic effects of traditional Chinese medication herbs provided by DICP. A number of herbal extracts and compounds isolated from them have been shown to have potent in vitro anti-fibrotic activities in screening assays recently developed at King’s. These are the first and only available in vitro model-based assays suitable for high-throughput screening of inflammation-independent anti-fibrotic drug candidates.
Innovation Elements
The key innovation of the project include first using a new type of bioassay mechanism to modeling fibrosis system which are developed recently at King’s, including a in vitro cell membrane model and an in vivo tissue model. These models have been demonstrated to be able to reflect the disease status in a comprehensive manner which are unachievable using conventional technology. The project also benefited from the strong expertise and novel TCM processing technologies developed at the DICP in handling TCM, extracts and compounds purification.
With the combination of these complimentary skill set, the project will aimed to produce a new generation antifibrotic drug candidates with significant efficacy for the first time.
Commercial Potential and Further Development
The outcome of the project will produce a set of new or novel chemical entities (NCE) extracted from TCM herbs using novel antifibrotic bioassays. The novel bioassay will be validated against the industry golden standard. The feasibility and efficacy of the NCEs as a new generation anti-fibrotic drug candidates will be evaluated and the market potential assessed in order to translate the key know hows of the joint team on fibrosis biology and TCM into a new medication to address this unmet medical need.
The technology has attracted strong industry interests, and there numerous of companies have expressed keen interests in accessing the technology upon the successful completion of the project.
