Trefoil joins NIH in testing new Fuchs dystrophy drug

Trefoil announced it will join with the NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) to complete the study on the new exploratory drug known by its compound TTHX1114. FECD can lead to severe blindness and currently has no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved pharmaceutical therapy to treat the condition.Trefoil recently raised US$5.2 million in funding to support the ongoing research of the drug. The investment came from Hatteras Venture Partners.{{quote-A:R-W:450-Q: FECD can lead to severe blindness and currently has no Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved }}In a media statent Dr. Richard Abbott Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology and holder of the Thomas W. Boyden Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology at the University of California said, “Fuchs dystrophy and other corneal endothelial diseases are potentially debilitating conditions, with limited nonsurgical treatment options available to patients today.”He explained that, for many patients, the long-term prognosis may require some form of corneal transplant surgery.“Having a therapeutic option such as the Trefoil compound may significantly expand our treatment options for these serious conditions, Abbott added.Around 70,000 people were diagnosed with FECD and at risk of having several vision-loss probls and even total blindness. Trefoil is currently taking the lead in developing TTHX1114 as a potential treatment answer to the condition.Trefoil CEO Dr. David Eleveth explained that the opportunity to participate in the NCATS Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program “will significantly accelerate the development of this compound.”“We know from speaking with patients and physicians just how significant the unmet medical need is, and now through the TRND program we have a path forward to filing an investigational new drug with the intention of entering human clinical trials quickly thereafter.Our goal is to transform the treatment of Fuchs dystrophy by giving patients a pharmaceutical option to regenerate the corneal endothelium and avoid surgery,” Eleveth added.