TWO CLINICAL TRIALS TEST DRUG’S ABILITY TO FIGHT
LIFE-THREATENING GENETIC DISEASE
Research provides hope for 600,000 Americans living with PKD
(Kansas City) July 20, 2006 — Plans are now underway for two clinical trials to determine if the drug rapamycin can help shrink the enlarged kidneys of patients with polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
PKD affects more people than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, sickle cell anemia and hemophilia combined. For the 600,000 Americans suffering from polycystic kidney disease, (PKD) fluid-filled cysts grow throughout the kidneys. Over time, these cysts get bigger and multiply, often leading to kidney failure. There is no treatment or cure for PKD, but there is hope.
Rapamycin is an immunosuppressant. The drug is prescribed to help prevent rejection of a new, transplanted kidney. Researchers have already tested rapamycin in mice and in a small group of transplant patients. They found the patients’ polycystic kidneys shrank by 25 percent over two years.
The first study, taking place in Switzerland, is already enrolling patients. The second clinical trial, sponsored by the Cleveland Clinic, is still in the planning phases and is not yet open for patient recruitment.
For more information about the Switzerland study, contact Dr. Andreas Serra, Principal Investigator, at andreas.serra@usz.ch. For information about the Cleveland Clinical study, contact Susan Wirth, BSN, at
wirths@ccf.org.
“This research brings hope to the 12.5 million people world-wide living with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD),” said PKD Foundation President and CEO Dan Larson.
The non-profit PKD Foundation is the only organization worldwide dedicated to PKD research and patient education. For more information on any of these topics, visit www.pkdcure.org or call 1-800-PKD-CURE.