Local scientists are developing an information system that will allow researchers to learn about and possibly find other uses for drugs that never hit the market.
The University of California, Davis, is leading an academic consortium working on a new system, called the Pharmaceutical Assets Portal, that would allow academic scientists nationwide to research drugs that might be used to treat diseases and conditions other than those they originally targeted, a university news release states.
Relatively few new drugs receive regulatory approval and reach the market, said Kate Marusina, manager of research facilitation and industry alliances at the UC Davis Health System.
The Government Accountability Office reports only about one in 10,000 chemical compounds initially tested for their potential as new medicines is found safe and effective and eventually approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"The drugs that aren't being approved often get shelved," said Marusina, who holds a doctorate in molecular immunology.
But many of the drugs, including some that have made it through tests and clinical trials, can be re-purposed.
"It's a low-hanging fruit because a lot of questions about safety have been answered," Marusina said. A key challenge, though is obtaining that information, especially as time passes, she said.
The portal is a system of information exchange between academic scientists and pharmaceutical companies -- a marketplace of ideas, so to speak.
"This will be a way for academic scientists to put together proposals that will indicate their interest and research in a particular disease area and then match that with what (pharmaceutical) companies have to offer," Marusina said.
Accidental drug re-purposing has led to major medical discoveries.
Thalidomide, was widely prescribed in the 1950s as a sedative and given to pregnant women to treat morning sickness. The drug, however, caused severe birth defects.
But during that era drugs weren't recalled, and thalidomide was used by accident to treat an inflammatory condition.
"Literally, the drug was accidentally given to a leprosy sufferer, and it cured him of the symptoms," she said.
Thalidomide was used to treat leprosy and also has helped treat mouth inflammation in people diagnosed with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Several years later, it also was discovered that the drug suppresses growth of blood vessels that feed tumors and started to be used to treat cancer, Marusina said.
"That's three uses of a single drug," she said.
The hope is that the portal will create a systematic -- rather than accidental -- approach to re-purposing drugs.
The scientists and pharmaceutical partners soon will be able to work together to "see if we can have a breakthrough drug," Marusina said.
Work on the portal began in September, and the initial stages are expected to be complete by the summer.
UC Davis' Clinical and Translational Science Center in Sacramento is leading the portal's development efforts and is among several universities that comprise the academic consortium. It is funded through Clinical and Translational Science Awards, led by the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health, the release states.
Call The Bee's Niesha Lofing, (916) 321-1270.
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