Cardiovascualr Drug Development Flashcards
Medicines in development for CVD by type and phase of development
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200+ in phases (phases 1-3) at a time
Why do we need clinical trials? (3)
Remedies and their effectiveness…in the 17th Century!
Biliary colic with jaundice (aka gallstones)
….bleeding,
….colonic of tobacco
…..draught of worm-wood, white wine, sheep’s trittle’s (pellets)
…powdered egg shells
…millipedes drowned in white wine
… fresh juice of horse dung
Scottish naval surgeon,
James Lind (1716-1794), is
generally credited with
being the first to discover
the cure for scurvy in 1747
He carried out a “controlled clinical trial” on 12 subjects with scurvy
The subjects were grouped in pairs and each pair given a different
“treatment”
Group 1 : Cider drink
Group 2 : Elixir of vitriol
Group 3 : Vinegar
Group 4 : Seawater
Group 5 : Oranges and lemon
Group 6 : Spicy paste
Evidence based medicine
“The integration of best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values.”
- Requires latest scientific evidence to be applied to clinical practice
- Involves assessment of research in terms of category and level of evidence
- Category and level is used to define strength of recommendation
Levels of evidence (8)
1a: Systematic reviews of randomized clinical trials
1b: Individual randomized clinical trials
2a: Systematic reviews of cohort studies
2b: Individual cohort studies and low-quality RCTs
3a: Systematic reviews of case-controlled studies
3b: Individual case-controlled studies
4: Case series, poor-quality cohort and case-control
studies
5: Expert opinion based on clinical experience
Drugs used to treat cardiovascular disease (12)
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nitrates: stim. NO release = vasodil
beta-blockers: block beta adreno r’s = red. adren effect
ca2+ channel blockers: relaxes arterial smooth muscle cells = inc vasodil
Diuretics: act on kidney = incr. salt + water loss
ACE inhib: inhib. ACE, salt, water loss + vasodil
ANG r blocker: r’s antagonist inc vasodilation
Anti-arrhythmics: red. electrical activity of heart
anti-platelet : inhib platelet aggr.
anti-coags: inhib clotting cascade
statins: dec. chole produ. - inc. LDL r’s
Fibrates: shift LDL to HDL profile
on avg how long does a new drug take to be made? (6)
10-15yrs total
3-6yrs : drug discovery + preclin
6-7yrs : clinical trials
0.5-2yrs: FDA review
1 in 5000-10000 approved
1bill us dollars for one drug = risky
biggest success + failure of CVD drugs (2)
+ Lipitor/statins: Biggest drug blockbuster in history
with sales of $100 billion (before patent expiry…)
- Torcetrapib: Raised good cholesterol, strong
scientific basis and rationale, but failed clinical testing in 2006 after - Pfizer spent $1 billion.
- Increased mortality rates as compared with
placebo
What are the 3 stages of the drug development project? (6)
1) DRUG DISCOVERY: Candidate molecules
chosen on basis of
pharmacological properties
2) PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENT:
Non-human studies
Toxicity testing
Pharmacokinetic analysis
and formulation
3) CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT: Volunteers and patients
Efficacy testing, side-
effects and potential
dangers
stage 1 target selection (4)
Drug targets are….
-Functional proteins
-Receptors, enzymes, transport proteins e.g. ARBs
~100s-1000 potential drug targets
i.e. proteins that play a role in disease but are they “druggable”?
Limitations not biological but emerging adverse effects during clinical testing, cost and complexity of drug discovery & development
(regulation)
Stage 1 lead finding + optimisation (5)
Cloning of target protein
Assay to measure functional activity
Automated systems to allow for speed & economy
High-throughput screening of large compound libraries
Natural products, fungal, plants, bacteria e.g. antibiotics and
sirolimus (rapamycin)
Lead optimisation, complex chemistry to
increase potency,
selectivity & stability
stage 2: Non-human studies, Toxicity testing,
Pharmacokinetic analysis and formulation (4)
Pharmacological testing for hazardous acute effects
Preliminary toxicology testing
Pharmacokinetic testing for absorption, metabolism,
distribution & elimination
Chemical & pharmaceutical
development to assess feasibility of large-scale synthesis & purification
as well as stability
stage 3 : Volunteers and patients, Efficacy testing, side- effects and potential dangers (4)
4 phases :
Phase I
Phase II
Phase III
Phase IV
What kind of drugs does drug discovery include? (3)
Biopharmaceuticals: Proteins, antibodies &
oligonucleotides as therapeutic agents
e.g. Insulin and Tissue plasminogen activator (tpa)
Targeting cholesterol homeostasis: PCSK9 inhibitors (5)
PCSK9 targets LDL receptors for degradation
- Dec. the ability to uptake cholesterol in
the liver and remove
from the circulation - PCSK9 mAbs prevent
LDLR degradation,
promote recycling and
cholesterol uptake - PCSK9 timeline for drug
development = short - Incredibly short discovery phase and development of PCSK9 inhibitors