News

A research team with scientists from the University of Granada in Spain and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has carried out the largest scleroderma study to date, creating a complete genetic map of the disease with the genetic analysis of more than 5,000 patients. Scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is a…

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…

In a new article, a multidisciplinary team of international researchers summarized key points and deliberations regarding basic, clinical, and novel therapeutic research made at a World Scleroderma Foundation three-day meeting that gathered senior and junior investigators across research areas, as well as a patient spokesperson. The report’s main goals were to…

Cytori Therapeutics has enrolled and treated its 40th patient with scleroderma in the Phase 3 STAR clinical trial for ECCS-50, marking 50 percent of target enrollment. The company also said a data monitoring committee has reviewed the safety results from the first 20 patients treated in the trial and has recommended it…

In July 2014, Edward Harris launched a website called the Scleroderma Education Project, where he writes and publishes articles providing comprehensive, unbiased, and research-based information about scleroderma. His articles are crafted to an audiences’ varied concerns — including a March 8 post on organ involvement in the disease — and…

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…

Canada-based ProMetic Life Sciences, a global biopharma, recently announced it will launch a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with scleroderma to evaluate its lead product PBI-4050. Drug candidate PBI-4050, taken orally, has confirmed safety and efficacy profiles through a series of in vivo studies in fibrosis. Fibrosis…

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).

Therapeutics targeting microRNA showed signs of success in mouse models of scleroderma — particularly in skin lesions with topical applications of miR-155 antagonist, according to the results of a study titled “Targeting miR-155 to Treat Experimental Scleroderma,” published in the journal Scientific Reports. MiRNA…