GOTHENBURG, Sweden, March 4, 2022 — Vicore Pharma Holding AB (publ) (“Vicore”), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing medicines targeting the angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R), will host a virtual R&D Day with a focus on its primary drug development programs and this new class of medicine, AT2R agonists (ATRAGS), on Thursday, March 10, 2022, from 15:00-17:00 CET/9-11 AM EST.
The R&D Day will feature presentations from Key Opinion Leaders (KOL’s) Toby Maher, M.D. Ph.D., from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, Gerry Coghlan, M.D., from the University College Dublin, and Maureen Horton, M.D. Ph.D., from Johns Hopkins University, who will discuss Vicore Pharma’s drug development programs for the treatment of severe lung disorders.
Program:
ATRAG – angiotensin II type 2 receptor agonists – a new class of medicine.C21, the first in class oral ATRAG in clinical development for the treatment of COVID-19 and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) will be explored as a new indication for C21. In IPF there is also a program on digital cognitive therapy to treat anxiety and depression and a program addressing IPF cough.The first new follow-up ATRAG, C106, is entering the clinic and 4 more compounds are in late-stage preclinical development.Tentative new indications for the new ATRAGS will be explored.
Toby Maher, M.D. is Professor of Medicine and Director of Interstitial Lung Disease at Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (USC). Dr Maher has spent the last 18 years specializing in the management of all forms of pulmonary fibrosis and orphan interstitial lung diseases (ILD). He previously ran the ILD unit at Royal Brompton Hospital. Since June 2020 he has been Director of ILD at Keck Medicine of USC. He remains Professor of Interstitial Lung Disease at Imperial College London and is British Lung Foundation Professor of Respiratory Medicine. His research interests include: biomarker discovery, the lung microbiome and host immune response in the pathogenesis of IPF and clinical trials in interstitial lung disease. He has been involved in >50 trials in fibrotic lung disease from phase 1b through to phase 4, including those assessing IPF, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory myositis. He is an associate editor for American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine and is on the Editorial Board of Lancet Respiratory Medicine. He has authored over 270 papers and book chapters on pulmonary fibrosis.
Gerry Coghlan, M.D. qualified from University College Dublin in 1983. He trained in cardiology at the National Cardiac Centre (Baggot Street) Dublin, Harefield Hospital and The Royal Free Hospital. He was appointed consultant cardiologist at the Royal Free Hospital in 1997. He is a founding member and ex-chair of the National Pulmonary Hypertension Physicians Association and has developed the Royal Free National Pulmonary Hypertension Service, with a particular interest in connective tissue disease associated Pulmonary Hypertension. He has developed an `outreach’ model for pulmonary hypertension care attending clinics at Guys & St Thomas’ Hospital, Kings College Hospital, Royal United Hospital Bath, Derriford Hospital Plymouth, Queen Alexandra Hospital Portsmouth, Royal Sussex County Hospital, QEQM Hospital, and Ulster Hospital Dundonald. From 1999, he was clinical lead in cardiology with the Regional Health Authority, lead for the North Central Sector collaborative program from 2002 – 2004 and from August 2004 – 2013 medical chair of the North Central Sector Cardiac Network. Furthermore, he was the Head of Service for medical specialties in the Royal Free Hospital from 2001, clinical director of acute medical specialties from July 2004 and Deputy director for medical specialties 2005 – 2009. With the advent of UCL partners he is now leading a group to co-ordinate pulmonary hypertension services & research across 4 hospitals linked to University College London (UCL).
Maureen Horton, M.D. is Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, Co-Director of the Interstitial Lung Disease Program in the department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and an attending physician at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Medical Intensive Care Unit. Professor Horton’s research aims to understand the immunological dysregulation that promote lung injury and fibrosis. Her initial focus on the expression of chemokines, cytokines, and growth factors in immune cells in lung injury led her to propose and develop a novel vaccine-induced immunotherapy treatment for lung fibrosis. Her research continues to discover novel metabolic treatments for both lung fibrosis and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). She has been the principal investigator or site PI in approximately 10 clinical trials of treatments for lung disease and has over 80 publications pulmonary conditions including IPF, IPF cough, and lung fibrosis as well as respiratory infections such as influenza and COVID-19. Since 2020, Professor Horton has been involved in several studies looking at immune dysregulation in COVID patients. Recently she co-authored a publication identifying distinct T cell and myeloid cells associated with acutely ill COVID-19 patients, providing an important mechanistic insight into the mechanism of pathogenesis of COVID-19. Professor Horton received her MD from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine as well as her internship, residency and fellowship training in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is triple board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
C21 – a first-in-class AT2R agonist
C21 is a first-in-class, orally available, low molecular weight, angiotensin II type 2 receptor (AT2R) agonist that activates the “protective arm” of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) leading to resolution and regeneration following tissue damage. The compound is currently in a phase 2 proof-of-concept trial in IPF and in a pivotal phase 3 trial in COVID-19.
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