[ Post a Response | Hemochromatosis ]
Posted by Elizabeth M on 12/3/2005, 10:08 am, in reply to "Hepsidine " The articles you have linked to really clearly set out the complexities of iron metabolism. Especially the 3rd one. I think I will add this link to the CHS website. To answer your question, though, yes, clinical research is being undertaken to come up with potential alternative treatments for HHC but as you may be aware, the lead time for the average drug development is about a decade. Perhaps a little faster if a company can get an "orhpan drug" designation and get fast tracked. Even at that, think years, not months. When one realizes how little was known about iron hemostasis up until VERY recently, it's really amazing to watch this field of research take off. An example of a company searching for alternative therapies is Xenon Pharmaseutical based in the Vancouver area. They discovered hemojuvelin, the culprit protein in Juvenile Hemochromatosis which is also controlled by hepcidin and are currently working on a drug to interact with this gene's protein. The CHS wrote a letter on their behalf as part of a successful grant application about two years ago. Your other point about not much interest because of a relatively simple, existing treatment is a good one. We have long thought this to be part of the problem in getting drug companies interested. Not enough upside potential. Now that some are, though, and any drug would be more likely to be preventative, and would not necessarily reverse existly iron stores, a drug would probably only help someone in the maintenance phase of treatment. This cuts out a lot of potential candidates for the drugs being developed. Perhaps we may get some help from drug companies who will want as wide a market as possible in pressing our point with health policy officials about the need for early screening via blood tests. Elizabeth M
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