Allopurinol

About

About Opportunity: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) continue to be the number one cause of death globally. The most common is coronary artery disease whose main symptoms are angina pectoris (angina) and, in more severe cases, myocardial infarction. Typically, it is not possible to treat angina effectively with any single medication or treatment regime and patients are often on multiple therapies. Around a third of patients continue to experience significant chest pain despite treatment,hence new therapies continue to be required. Researchers at the University of Dundee have shown that Allopurinol, an established treatment for gout, has anti-ischaemic properties and the potential to be an effective treatment for the symptoms of chronic stable angina. In a double-blind, placebo controlled, crossover study, 65 patients with angiographically confirmed coronary artery disease and stable chronic angina pectoris were randomly assigned to either allopurinol (up to 600mg per day) or placebo. High dose allupurinol was found to significantly prolong total exercise time and the time to angina in patients during a standard exercise test. Allopurinol is a safe, well established therapy which is well tolerated and has fewer side effects associated with older antianginal therapies.   Key Benefits: Allopurinol is an established, cost-effective, well tolerated and safe drug Significant effects on angina symptoms Prolonged exercise time for patients   Applications: In the treatment of Cardiovasclar diseases   IP Status: The technology is protected by general European patent EP2435047B1 and pending US patent US2012135078.