Biomedical Catalyst Fund - Feasibility Studies

一种新的调光开关，就像免疫系统的药物一样。尽管使用了强大的抗生素，但感染仍在继续给人类的生命带来巨大的损失。Indigix认为，这在一定程度上可能是由于患者的免疫系统对细菌反应过度。当身体受到攻击时，免疫系统的细胞会释放细胞因子--一种强大的化学物质，其使命是寻找和消灭细菌。如果风暴过大，就会出现多器官衰竭，死亡随之而来。Indigix的一种新药通过在细菌细胞外部创造一种分子模拟细菌细胞(称为内毒素)的分子来触发反应，从而解决了治疗感染过程中被忽视的这一方面。Indigix药物名为DG，使用基于树枝状大分子的分子与脂多糖相同的受体结合。这会降低细胞因子的反应，就像调光开关降低灯泡的亮度一样。使用DG可以使Indigix将细胞因子降低到有益而不是有害的水平。

A new dimmer switch like drug for the immune system.Infections continue to take a huge toll on human lives despite the use of powerful antibiotics. Indigix believes that this can in part be due to an overreaction of the patient's immune system to bacteria. When the body is attacked, cells of the immune system release cytokines - powerful chemicals with a mission to seek and destroy bacteria. If the storm is excessive, multiple organ failure develops and death follows. A new drug from Indigix addresses this neglected aspect of treating an infection by creating a molecular mimic of the molecule on the outside of bacterial cells (called LPS) that triggers the response. The Indigix drug, called DG, uses a dendrimer based molecule to bind to the same receptor as LPS. This reduces the cytokine response just like a dimmer switch reduces the brightness of a bulb. Using DG enables Indigix to reduce cytokines to levels that are helpful rather than harmful.