New nanoparticle therapy reduces damage after heart attack

Privately-held US biopharma company Cour Pharmaceutical Development reports the publication of new data in Science Translation Medicine that shows the potential of its proprietary therapy, known as Immune Modifying Nanoparticles (IMP), to reduce inflammation and promote tissue repair and regeneration in patients who have suffered a heart attack.

When animal models were injected with IMPs after a heart attack, the size of the heart lesions were reduced by 5% allowing the heart to pump significantly more blood. IMP treatment showed reduced inflammation and promoted regeneration in all models tested.

“This is the first therapy that specifically targets a key driver of the inflammation that occurs after a heart attack,” said Daniel Getts, chief scientific officer at Cour, adding: “There is no other therapy on the horizon that can protect the heart from the aggressive immune cell infiltration that causes so much damage.”