Therabron Announces Program for Respiratory Diseases Based on Novel Isoforms of Company’s Lead Product

Therabron Therapeutics, a biotech company developing a novel class of drugs based on the naturally occurring secretoglobin proteins, announced a new research program to develop a series of new isoforms of their lead candidate, the recombinant human CC10 protein. Therabron plans to provide treatment for a range of orphan and more commonplace respiratory diseases that affect patients from infancy through adulthood, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The Rockville, Maryland-based company recently presented its latest results at the 2016 Biology of Acute Respiratory Tract Infection Conference in Galveston, Texas, titled “Modification of CC10 Protein by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) during Acute Lung Injury.”

A 10kDa protein, called Clara (club) (CC10), is expressed in epithelial cells of the respiratory system, and it has an important protective role in healthy people by the inhibition of numerous inflammatory signaling pathways. Recent studies demonstrated that long and excessive inflammation in patients suffering from a respiratory disease can cause important modifications in the native CC10 protein’s structure.

These observations enabled Therabron to develop a series of new isoforms of the recombinant human CC10 protein ex-vivo, by simulating the in-vivo chemical reactions that naturally occur in the respiratory system under inflammatory conditions.

“These observations enhance the potentially transformative impact that recombinant human CC10-based therapeutics could have in the future. In addition to our lead, hospital-focused Phase 2 program, we are pursuing development initiatives focused on ambulatory respiratory disease with confirmed deficiency in native CC10, including COPD,” Thomas F. Miller, president and CEO of Therabron Therapeutics, said in a press release.

“We have created a number of isoforms of recombinant human CC10 with the goal of evaluating their application in chronic respiratory disease and we are actively pursuing a series of exclusivities to protect these newly discovered molecules,” Miller said.

Therabron Therapeutics’ lead biopharmaceutical product candidate is a proprietary preparation of recombinant human CC10, called CG100, which is currently being administered by intratracheal instillation to preterm infants in a Phase 2 clinical trial. RhCC10 products have potential clinical applications in a variety of respiratory diseases including asthma, persistent sinusitis, severe influenza-like illness, and neonatal chronic respiratory morbidity prevention.