Despite decades of awareness
and prevention campaigns, heart disease remains the No. 1 cause of death for
both men and women, killing more than 600,000 Americans each year. Roughly 49
percent of Americans have at least one of the three risk factors for heart
disease: high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol and smoking, according to the
Center for Disease Control. What’s astounding is that an overwhelming majority
of heart disease is the result of poor lifestyle choices. While it’s certainly
nothing to celebrate, the statistics are keeping scientists on their toes and
companies like VistaGen in business.
VistaGen is an innovative
life sciences company leveraging its Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube™
technology platform to provide clinically relevant predictions of potential
toxicity of promising new drug candidates. One of VistaGen’s particular areas
of focus is on cardiovascular care.
It is estimated that about
one-third of all potential new drugs candidates fail in preclinical or clinical
development due to unexpected safety concerns. Countless human lives have been
lost because “promising” cardiovascular drugs were discontinued because of
late-stage failure. Using human heart cells derived from human pluripotent stem
cells (hPSCs), VistaGen’s technology is designed to address potential toxicity
of new cardiovascular drug candidates long before they are ever tested in
humans.
CardioSafe 3D™, the
company’s novel three-dimensional (3D) bioassay system, was developed to
identify safer drug rescue variants with reduced heart safety concerns, which
can be missed in animal models or in vitro cell culture testing currently used
by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
VistaGen’s strategy is to
pair CardioSafe 3D™ with modern medicinal chemistry to build a pipeline of
novel, safer chemical variants (Drug Rescue Variants™) of once-promising drug
candidates that initially were developed by biotechnology and pharmaceutical
companies, but that were later abandoned due to the aforementioned concerns.
The core goal is to license
or sell Drug Rescue Variants to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies for
further development and commercialization. VistaGen believes its strategy has
the potential to substantially reduce drug development costs and produce
effective and safer drugs, which would inherently help save human lives.
For more information visit
www.vistagen.com
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MissionIR is committed to connecting the investment community with companies that have great potential and a strong dedication to building shareholder value. We know our reputation is based on the integrity of our clients and go to great lengths to ensure the companies represented adhere to sound business practices.
Sign up for “The Mission Report” at www.MissionIR.com
