Introduction
LA BioMed scientists have developed revolutionary new methods for diagnosing and
treating lung disease including asthma and emphysema, Adult Respiratory Distress
Syndrome, and fibrosis resulting from mechanical ventilation. These new treatments
will also benefit the 70% of pre term infants who develop chronic lung disease after
being treated with lung surfactant and maintained on mechanical ventilation. The
novel pathophysiologic approach taken by LA BioMed investigators addresses cures
for these life threatening conditions.

The Technology
The LA BioMed team of researchers have identified the role of an important human protein in lung development. This protein, which can be delivered exogenously, is essential for the normal development and function of the lung. It acts to coordinate the inspiration and expiration of gases with the production of pulmonary surfactant. In the absence of this protein the lung becomes fibrotic and the alveoli do not function properly, resulting chronic lung diseases.

Results in hand have already demonstrated that treatment with this developmentally critical protein early in the fibrotic process reinstates the normal cellular phenotype and blocks fibrosis. This means that premature neonates could be treated with this protein to avoid the onset of fibrosis that inevitably accompanies administration of lung surfactant followed by mechanical ventilation.

Significantly, in adults who suffer from fibrotic disorders of the lung, it has also been shown that the receptor for this important developmental protein is lost. Remarkably, when such receptor deficient cells are treated with known drugs that upregulate synthesis of this receptor, restoration of the normal fibroblast phenotype takes place. The restoration of the normal fibroblasts also restores the mechanism of surfactant production, as well as the mechanism of re-epithelializing the alveolar surface layer.

This technology represents a breakthrough in approaches to the diagnosis treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

• Effective drug candidates have already been identified along with screening methods for additional candidates.
• Clinically relevant diagnostic methods with immediate applications have been tested in animal models.
• This technology addresses major indications in chronic lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema, bronchopulmonary dysplasia and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis as well as ARDS.

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