Thule Therapeutics S.A., an R&D Company of the Sigma-Tau Group, and Corequest Sagl announce extremely valuable findings on the use of L-Carnitine in peritoneal dialysis solutions opening up new opportunities in the treatment of end stage renal disease (ESRD).
The prestigious American Journal of Kidney Disease recently published an article entitled "Effect of an L-Carnitine-Containing Peritoneal Dialysate on Insulin Sensitivity in Patients Treated with Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis: A 4-Month Prospective Multicenter Randomized Trial" describing the results of a multicenter effort supported by the two Companies and with a research grant from Baxter. Dr. Mario Bonomini MD, coordinated the project, involving over 10 Centers in Italy. The study and reports provide proof of concept data that validate the effective role of L-Carnitine as an “osmo-metabolic” agent in peritoneal dialysis solutions with concomitant improvement of insulin sensitivity.
Corequest Sagl and Thule Therapeutics S.A. partner to identify and develop new PD solutions that maintain or improve dialysis effectiveness while sparing glucose. The use of L-Carnitine, a naturally occurring compound involved in intermediary metabolism, in PD bags provides a new, effective and safe crystalloid agent for PD hypertonic solutions. In fact, on one hand, L-Carnitine allows to diminish glucose concentration in the bag while maintaining the same osmotic and ultrafiltrative properties, while, on the other, it improves the metabolic profile as shown by the enhancement of insulin sensitivity and other biomarkers. The data reported in the article confirm this effect. The use of a very challenging patient population as that selected makes this evidence particularly strong.
Professor Mario Bonomini, Principal Investigator of the trial and Director of the Nephrology Institute at the University “G. d’Annunzio”, Chieti (Italy), confirmed that “these data are of paramount importance since they pave the way in formulating new hypertonic solutions to improve clinical outcome of PD patients. Moreover, this is the first real innovation in this area over the last several years.”
Corequest and Thule/Sigma-Tau look to consider industrial partners to complete development and exploit the product potential.
Corequest Sagl & Thule Therapeutics
Corequest Sagl is a Swiss company involved in the development of key components of therapeutic platforms for kidney and cardiac patients.
Thule Therapeutics S.A., a subsidiary of Sigma-Tau, is a Swiss biotech developing new L-Carnitine containing solutions.
Sigma-Tau: http://www.sigma-tau.it
