Track Code
P10201

IR #
1911

Summary
Lead Inventors: Andrew R. Marks, M.D. and Steven O. Marx, M.D.
Related Technologies: IR# 1007 & IR# 1443

Problem or Unmet Need:
Despite the development of drug-eluting stents (DES), restenosis after angioplasty and/or stent implantation remains a significant medical problem. Obese and diabetic patients, who are particularly susceptible to vascular stenosis and restenosis and represent a high proportion of patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronoary angioplasty, are unusually resistant to the activity of rapamycin-coated stents. New therapeutic strategies are needed for treating and preventing vascular stenosis and intimal hyperplasia in diabetic and obese patients.

Details of the Invention:
Details of the Inventions:
This technology provides new therapeutic strategies useful for the treatment and prevention of vascular stenosis and restenosis in diabetic and obese patients. Recent studies suggest that rapamycin resistance in diabetic and obese patients may be due to their elevated blood leptin levels. In addition, new research reveals that phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase)/Akt signaling pathway is involved in rapamycin resistance, and that a combination of PI3-kinase inhibitor and rapamycin is more effective than rapamycin alone at inhibiting vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and neointimal hyperplasia in vivo. Accordingly, this technology provides drug compositions of a mTOR inhibitor (such as rapamycin) or a derivative thereof, in combination with a PI3-kinase inhibitor, a leptin inhibitor, or both a PI3-kinase inhibitor and leptin inhibitor.

Publications
PNAS 2008 Dec 2; 105(48):19006-11

Web Links
WIPO: WO/2007/120897
USPTO: US 20020098998
USPTO: US 20040213826

Inquiry
Peter Golikov
Columbia Technology Ventures
Tel: (212) 854-8444
Email: TechTransfer@columbia.edu