OrPro Therapeutics, Inc, a cystic fibrosis treatment, has received a patent covering the drug’s capacity to improve the viscoelastic properties of mucus secretions.
OrPro Therapeutics, Inc. a company developing Theradux (ORP-100), a new inhaled treatment designed to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) and other obstructive diseases characterized by thickened, stiff and adhesive mucus, recently announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued patent No. 9,168,290 covering the drug’s capacity to improve the viscoelastic properties of mucus secretions.
In patients with cystic fibrosis, mucus is incapable of performing its fundamental function of lung clearance, which leads to complicated inflammation and chronic infection.
Theradux is a non-systemic form of the enzyme thioredoxin, which plays a vital role in preventing the formation of excess molecular bonds within the mucus layer. In patients with cystic fibrosis, this impaired activity leads to progressive lung function impairment. The Theradux nebulized treatment works by relaxing abnormally stiffened mucus, and was developed with the aim of restoring the mucus transport and lung clearance in the majority of CF patients.
