BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Amira's lipid love affair

July 6, 2009 7:00 AM UTC

Spurred by academic research linking LPA1 to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc. used its medicinal chemistry expertise in bioactive lipids to design antagonists for preclinical studies. The company presented proof-of-concept data in a mouse model of IPF last week and hopes to enter the clinic next year with the first candidate it could take to market on its own.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is an anionic bioactive lipid that acts through EDG receptors to mediate cell proliferation, platelet aggregation, smooth muscle contraction, inhibition of neuroblastoma cell differentiation, chemotaxis and tumor cell invasion. LPA also elicits angiogenesis (see BioCentury, April 13)...