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ate stages of a disease can often feel just as tumulmolecules that mimic natural peptides with potentially tuous as the earlier days in your journey. New therapeutic activity.” symptoms pop up seemingly every other day, and Endevica Bio’s peptide drug for cachexia has had it can become difficult to find relief and maintain promising milestones throughout its development. If a comfortable quality of life. But when it comes to cachexia, approved, it would be administered as a daily injection. one of the most common and most harrowing disorders in This is noteworthy in and of itself, as the properties of the late-stage cancer cases, some solace may finally be on the drug would traditionally need to be administered directly horizon. into the brain’s cerebral ventricles to have any substantial Also known as “wasting syndrome,” cachexia is an effect on the melanocortin receptors—which is “clearly irreversible disorder that occurs in advanced cases of not practical and quite invasive,” Gruber points out. cancer, kidney disease, heart failure, HIV/AIDS and more. The “drug-like” qualities of Endevica Bio’s treatment, It presents as loss of appetite on overdrive, causing the which combines the low toxicity and high specificity of body to break down its own fat, muscle and even organs. true peptides and long duration of synthetic molecules, Patients are typically diagnosed if there is a 5 percent loss allows a more straightforward and non-invasive approach of body weight over 12 months. that is ideally as effective. Once the melanocortin recep According to the American Cancer Society, up to 50 tors are successfully blocked, a person with cachexia can percent of all cancer patients may experience this disorder begin gaining weight again—a feat virtually unheard of to a degree, leading to complications with treatment and previously. well-being—and little opportunity for respite. It might sound like a success story that’s too good “At one time, cachexia was thought to be simply a to be true, but Endevica Bio has research funded by the disease produced by a lack of appetite in a small number National Cancer Institute to prove it. A veterinary hospital of patients,” explains Dr. Kenneth Gruber, founder and study of the drug in client-owned dogs with life-threatenchief scientific officer of biotech company Endevica Bio. ing cachexia showed “reversal of body weight loss, comThanks to new research, however, the bined with reports of increased physical understanding of cachexia has evolved activity, and enhanced quality of life.” to recognize the large demographic it There were also no drug-related affects, the metabolic relation to cancer adverse effects, and some dogs even Up to 40 percent of and its deadly outcome. continued on the drug for expanded use According to Gruber, up to 40 of over one year. Gruber says this has cancer warriors will percent of cancer warriors will die from given the company confidence as the die from cachexia. cachexia. Endevica Bio hopes to offset drug heads into human clinical trials. this number through the creation of a While Endevica Bio’s primary focus solution for the disorder based in pepis currently cancer cachexia, it hopes tides. Peptides are chains of amino acids that any progress made with the drug held together by bonds within a cell; a well-known peptide in this demographic could also confront other cachexia therapeutic is insulin for diabetes. As Gruber notes, while forms such as those seen in kidney failure or heart failure. the understanding of cachexia has deepened, the options To Gruber, a change in the tide is fast approaching. available for patients with the disorder are still limited. “Not only could [a cachexia treatment] potentially save “There is currently no good drug treatment whose many lives, but it could improve the quality of life of those primary indication is to treat cachexia, which was the basis who are living with cancer,” he says. “Similar to the new for Endevica Bio’s drug development efforts to produce era ushered in by immunotherapies, we truly believe that an anti-cachexia therapeutic,” says Gruber. “Currently, if we can treat cachexia effectively it can be a major revoluhealth care professionals focus on maximizing nutrition tion in cancer treatment.” and exercise in an attempt to limit weight loss and main tain muscle mass. The use of appetite stimulants and steroids are common, but these therapies don’t address the core problem—hence the high death rate.” The core problem, Gruber says, is the hypermetabolic state of the body when faced with certain diseases. In cancer, metabolism may speed up—meaning a warrior already struggling with loss of appetite from disease or treatment will have a difficult time meeting the demands of a hyperactive metabolism. To Endevica Bio, the answer lies within peptides, specifically melanocortins. These are peptide hormones within the neural system that are responsible for controlling body weight and other functions. “The previous attempts to develop melanocortin drugs resulted in ones with cardiovascular side effects,” Gruber explains. “Endevica Bio has patents that can suppress these cardiovascular side effects while enhancing Visit endevicabio.com for more information on the company’s anti-cachexia effects. Many drugs are totally synthetic cachexia research. 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