Grant: Project Grant

We have developed and synthesized bone-seeking variants of the peptide hormones Calcitonin and Parathyroid Hormone, which are currently used to treat bone conditions such as Osteoporosis. Unlike the parent molecules, our bone-seeking analogues will immediately target to and coat the bones of the patient after drug administration and resist the body's bone resorption events that follow to great effect, thereby reducing bone fracture in Osteoporosis patients. The biologic drugs described in this proposal represent a new class of bone-targeting compounds, which could find clinical utility in the treatment of Osteoporosis and related bone disease indications including Paget's disease, osteolytic tumors, inflammatory Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, drug-induced osteopenia, and hypercalcemia. Our bone-targeting strategy would improve the efficacy of those small peptide hormones on bone cells, whilst minimizing drug toxicity and non-specific side-effects, thereby improving patient compliance and quality of life.