Snyder researchers report results of Phase 2 clinical trial translating UCalgary discovery

A paper recently published in the British Medical Journal Open (BMJ Open) by Snyder Institute/Cumming School of Medicine members Dr. Ranjani Somayaji, MD (first author), and Dr. Daniel Muruve, MD (senior investigator) and their research team details the results of the international Phase II human trial for LSALT peptide targeting acute lung and kidney inflammation in hospitalized patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19). LSALT peptide is a dipeptidase-1 (DPEP-1) inhibitor that was discovered and characterized by a team of scientists at the University of Calgary and the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases. The basic work was published in the journal Cell in 2019 and Sci Adv in 2022. The drug has been translated from the bench to bedside in conjunction with Arch Biopartners Inc. (a company co-founded by the scientists) to treat inflammation and organ injury in the kidneys, lungs, and liver in humans.

The small Phase II trial was initiated with urgency in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to identify clinical signals of efficacy for the LSALT peptide and to possibly help patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The paper in BMJ Open describes the clinical highlights, outcomes and biomarker results of the study. In general, patients who received the LSALT peptide demonstrated evidence of less inflammation and reduced need for intensive ventilatory support. In addition, LSALT peptide was well tolerated with no safety issues related to the drug. 

The results of the Phase II study represent the first-ever evidence validating DPEP-1 as a mediator of organ inflammation and relevant therapeutic target in humans. The new data also provides important scientific rationale to advance the LSALT peptide in larger clinical trials to prevent leukocyte recruitment and organ inflammation for other indications. These studies include a Phase II study targeting cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (AKI), which recently began recruiting patients (Calgary will also be a site for this study). Read the study.