LBT-3627 is an experimental

peptide Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty am ...

drug derived from

vasoactive intestinal peptide Vasoactive intestinal peptide, also known as vasoactive intestinal polypeptide or VIP, is a peptide hormone that is vasoactive in the intestine. VIP is a peptide of 28 amino acid residue (chemistry), residues that belongs to a Secretin family, glu ...

(VIP) intended to modulate the behavior of immune cells in cases of neurodegenerative disease such that they protect

dopamine Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. It is an amine synthesized ...

-producing cells rather than attack them. The drug is currently being studied for its potential use in the treatment of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

Function

LBT-3627 specifically targets the VIP₂ receptor. The drug may also have an effect on

microglia Microglia are a type of glia, glial cell located throughout the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system (CNS). Microglia account for about around 5–10% of cells found within the brain. As the resident macrophage cells, they act as t ...

. LBT-3627 has been shown to be more stable in the body as compared to VIP.

History and development

Researchers at the

University of Nebraska Medical Center The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) is a Public university, public Academic health science centre, academic health science center in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1869 and chartered as a private medical college in 1881, UNMC became p ...

and Longevity Biotech, Inc. in Philadelphia first demonstrated the use of the drug in mouse models. A

phase I trial The phases of clinical research are the stages in which scientists conduct experiments with a health intervention to obtain sufficient evidence for a process considered effective as a medical treatment. For drug development, the clinical phases ...

for humans was planned for 2017, but as of 2018 it was still in the

preclinical development In drug development, preclinical development (also termed preclinical studies or nonclinical studies) is a stage of research that begins before clinical trials (testing in humans) and during which important feasibility, iterative testing and dr ...

stage.

References

{{Antiparkinson Antiparkinsonian agents Peptide therapeutics Receptor agonists