Purdue University researchers have developed a new form of a drug that may be a more effective treatment for osteoporosis.
The drug is a stabilized form of human calcitonin, a peptide drug already used to treat osteoporosis. Calcitonin, responsible for maintaining calcium balance in the body, can be prescribed to patients with osteoporosis.
When given to these patients, calcitonin inhibits bone resorption which increases bone mass. However, when the drug dissolves in water, it fibrillates and becomes less effective. For this reason, salmon calcitonin is given as a substitute, but it is not as powerful and comes with the potential for adverse side effects.
“The technology [used to stabilize the peptide drug] can help make these calcitonin drugs safer and more effective,” said Elizabeth Topp, Ph.D., a Purdue professor of physical and industrial pharmacy.
“Our approach will increase the therapeutic potential of human calcitonin, promising a more effective option to replace salmon calcitonin for osteoporosis and related disorders.”
To decrease the propensity to fibrillate and to increase the therapeutic effect of human calcitonin, the researchers phosphorylated specific amino acid residues.
“Many promising new peptide drugs tend to form fibrils,” Topp said. “This technology provides a way to stabilize them in a reversible way so that the stabilizing modification comes off then when the drug is given to the patient.”
According to the findings of their study, “Fibrillation of Human Calcitonin and Its Analogs: Effects of Phosphorylation and Disulfide Reduction,” published in the January 2021 issue of the Biophysical Journal, small structural changes can have significant effect on fibrillation and that understanding these changes could help develop more fibrillation-resistant human calcitonin analogs.
The research is supported by the National Institutes of Health. The inventors of the technology are working with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) to patent the technology.
They are also searching for partners to continue developing and commercializing their technology. For more information on licensing, contact Joseph Kasper, Ph.D. at OTC at jrkasper@prf.org and mention track code 2019-TOPP-68428.
