Magdalena Kegel,  —

The German pharmaceutical company Medac, in August, will begin Phase 3 of a clinical trial to access the therapeutic potential of terguride, a disease-modifying drug for the treatment of diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis. Terguride is a serotonin receptor blocker, acting at two particular serotonin receptors called 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B. Medac is convinced…

Japanese scientists have discovered that endothelin-1 (ET-1) signaling through its B-type receptor contributes to the development of skin fibrosis. The finding suggests that ETB can be selectively targeted in new attempts to develop better antifibrotic drugs based on endothelin blockage. Scientists have long suspected that ET-1 signaling contributes to the…

Clopidogrel (Plavix) treatment may worsen blood vessel dysfunction and lead to the development of new digital ulcers in patients with scleroderma. The results of this proof-of-concept study indicated that platelet activation is not a main driver of fibrosis, also highlighting the need for caution when treating scleroderma patients who also…

Immune T-cells induced by the autoantigen topoisomerase-I were linked to lung fibrosis and found to predict disease progression in scleroderma patients. The finding may open new avenues of research into treatments that selectively target the various tissue-specific disease manifestations of scleroderma — a substantial improvement to the nonselective immunosuppression used today.

Edward Harris, the man behind the Scleroderma Education Project, recently presented a review and analysis of published data about therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE), a potential technique for treating scleroderma, at the American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) 2016 Annual Meeting. The presentation, “Therapeutic Plasma Exchange for the Treatment…

Scleroderma patients with worsening interstitial lung disease would likely benefit from a treatment regimen consisting of cyclophosphamide pulses, followed by maintenance with the immunosuppressant mycophenolate mofetil (CellCept), researchers reported. The study highlighted the desperate need for better treatments, as slowing progression is the only option now available. Earlier studies have suggested that…

Antegrin Therapeutics announced that it has acquired the licenses to a series of drugs targeting integrins. With the addition of these drugs, Antegrin hopes to be one step closer to the commercialization of anti-integrin therapies for the treatment of scleroderma and other fibrotic diseases. Integrins are cell surface receptors attaching…

Bosentan and other drugs belonging to the group of endothelin-1 receptor blockers showed promise in preclinical fibrosis models, but delivered disappointing results in clinical trials. Now, a real-life observational study adds to the setback, with this group of drugs showing no effect on skin fibrosis in scleroderma. Endothelin-1 receptor blockers…

A research team has developed a cannabinoid-based drug that stimulates not only one, but two, receptors believed to be involved in fibrosis development in scleroderma. The drug, VCE-004.8, prevented the formation of fibrosis-promoting myofibroblasts in culture and stopped fibrotic changes in a mouse model of dermal fibrosis. Findings from these…

The European Scleroderma Trials and Research group (EUSTAR) and the World Scleroderma Foundation recently announced the launch of a scholarly journal dedicated to coverage of research and clinical data regarding systemic sclerosis (SSc) and related autoimmune and fibrotic diseases, called the Journal of Scleroderma and Related Disorders (JSRD).