Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is a devastating clinical condition with defined glomerular histopathology and yet a multifaceted pathophysiological, histological and genetic background. FSGS patients often progress to end-stage-renal disease requiring dialysis and/or kidney transplantation, adding a significant socioeconomic burden to the individual burden of patients. There are approximately 140.000 patients with FSGS worldwide, qualifying it as an orphan disease.
Currently, there are no broadly effective therapies for glomerular disorders. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find new treatment options and test their efficacy in suitable trials.
Delta4 is a drug discovery and development company, combining in-silico drug discovery and big data analysis with extensive expertise in molecular biology and bioinformatics to a powerful proprietary drug discovery platform. This platform is being used both for tailored service collaborations as well as for the discovery of promising drug leads backed by a strong mechanistic hypothesis, typically resulting in a fast track for clinical development.
Delta4 has chosen FSGS as its first therapeutic area to establish a clinical proof-of-concept of validated compounds. The significant medical and biological competence of its team in the renal field assembles all expertise to address this devastating disorder with high and unmet medical need. Therefore, our FSGS project has successfully advanced from identifying candidate compounds to the clinical proof-of-concept stage.
Preparations are now underway for an innovative clinical trial with the aim to include the first patients in the fall of 2022.
Delta4 is working closely with leading experts from medical universities and the Austrian Society of Nephrology, to optimize study design and to prepare a nationwide platform to provide the fastest pathway for best benefits both to patients and shareholders.
We are looking forward to disclosing more details of this effort over the next few months.