Victor Chang Institute to work with BioDiem

Sydney's Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute has signed a deal to investigate a tissue restorative agent, BDM-K, for Melbourne biopharma BioDiem.

BioDiem has taken up the licence for BDM-K from Russian researchers at the St Petersburg Institute of Experimental Medicine, and will be collaborating with the Victor Chang to assess its value in treating patients who have suffered heart attacks.

"We anticipate starting work on this project as soon as possible, and hope to complete the first phase in the next three months," said Victor Chang COO Tim Dugan. "The results from the first phase will determine the next steps, and if they are favourable, we will look to take it from there," he added.

BioDiem CEO Tom Williams said the Victor Chang would undertake further pre-clinical work on BDM-K in order to identify whether the compound could play a useful role in treating cardiac disease.

If the pre-clinical testing is successful, it could lead after further work to studies of BDM-K in humans, Williams said.

Williams said the research would be spearheaded by Peter MacDonald, and would initially seek to prove the molecule using and animal model.

"We will be looking to see if it is effective as a first-line treatment, for people who have just arrived at hospital immediately after a myocardial infarction, or alternatively for uses such as post-stent recovery where it can help prevent sub-acute damage after an event," he said.

Williams noted that today, more and more people are surviving heart attacks, but that the critical phase is now just as often found after the initial event; during the recovery and resumption of ordinary life.

"What excites us is that this is something that could help some of those 50 per cent of people who die from chronic heart failure in the five years following recovery from a myocardial infarction," he said.

Early human studies in Russia showed reductions in dyspnoea, tachycardia, and oedema in the lower extremities in patients treated with BDM-K for three weeks after a heart attack. Initial reports indicate the compound may have the potential to improve some types of damaged tissue in terms of structure and function, with less scarring.

"We took on this assignment because BioDiem had a compound we were scientifically interested in. It piqued our interest and we came together to investigate it," noted Dugan. "But we want to stress we are not making a move to start doing contract research. This drug looked interesting and useful, so we made the agreement, and we will take it from there," he added.