Anti-Angiogenic Agents Abound - Brief Article

Applied Genetics News, March, 2000

Several developments relating to anti-angiogenic factors were recently announced:

GenVec, Inc. (65 W. Watkins Mill Rd., Gaithersburg, MD 20878; Tel: 240/632-0740, Fax: 240/632-0736) has obtained exclusive rights to the Pigment Epithelium- Derived Factor (PEDF) gene from the National Institutes of Health for the treatment of blindness. PEDF inhibits new blood vessel formation. It may be the key to treating two of the most common causes of blindness in individuals over the age of 50, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

EntreMed, Inc. (9640 Medical Center Dr., Suite 200, Rockville, MD 20850; Tel: 301/217-9858, Fax: 301/217-9594) has been granted permission by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the commencement of Phase I clinical testing of its orally-active, small molecule inhibitor of angiogenesis, 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME2), in humans.

Vascular Genetics, Inc. has completed enrollment and dosing in three of its clinical trials - one for the treatment of coronary artery disease and two trials for the treatment of critical limb ischemia. A fourth trial, a double- blind, placebo-controlled dose response study of catheter-based delivery of vascular endothelial factor-2 for coronary artery disease, has been enrolled and the majority of the enrollment target has been treated.

UCSD School of Medicine researchers have, for the first time, linked hypoxia- inducible factor (HIF) to heart disease and heart attack in human patients. In the UCSD study, HIF was found in tissue samples from human hearts damaged by ischemia or infarction, but not in normal tissue. The researchers also noted a connection between HIF and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), also present in the diseased tissue samples. HIF triggers VEGF, initiating blood vessel growth to increase oxygenation to blood-deprived tissue.