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NPS Gets More Bone Cell Growth In Orbit
Salt Lake City - February 14, 2000 - Scientists at NPS Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with scientists and astronauts at NASA designed and conducted bone growth studies on NASA's space shuttle Discovery.The results presented at the NASA/NIH meeting in Washington, D.C. on January 28, demonstrated for the first time that normal osteoblasts, the cells responsible for bone growth, were able to produce new bone within the microgravity environment of space. Moreover, NPS's potential anti-osteoporosis drug ALX1-11 was shown to enhance this growth by 68 percent. The rapid loss of bone mass encountered by astronauts in space has long been a concern and a significant limitation to the long-term duration of space travel. These experiments showed that a key biological mechanism contributing to decreased bone mass is a reduction in the ability of osteoblasts to produce bone in space. Cells cultured on the space shuttle Discovery produced approximately 22 percent less bone relative to counterparts grown under normal gravity conditions on Earth. This is consistent with previous estimates of a 4 to 10-fold more rapid rate of decline in bone mass in space relative to Earth. These experiments, sponsored by the Canadian Space Agency and overseen by payload specialist, former Sen. John H. Glenn, provided a unique and valuable environment to better understand space induced bone loss as well as presenting a model system to study the causes and potential treatments of osteoporosis on Earth. "These data confirm the stimulation of bone formation by ALX1-11 in osteoblasts in space as previously shown on Earth," said Dennis Sindrey, Principal Scientist for the ALX1-11 project at NPS Allelix. "In addition, data illustrate the role of gravity in the complex process of bone growth." ALX1-11 has been shown to be effective in reversing bone loss suffered by patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis. A Phase II clinical trial with 200 postmenopausal women given daily doses of 100 micrograms exhibited an average increase in spinal bone density of approximately 7 percent after a 12-month period. This is a significant improvement over current treatments. This compound is scheduled to enter Phase III clinical trials in the second quarter of year 2000. NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. / NPS Allelix, in the US and Canada respectively, are engaged in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs that are intended to address a variety of important diseases.
SPACE MEDICINE
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Colorado - January 31, 2000 -
Several space shuttle experiments flown by the University of Colorado at Boulder-based BioServe Space Technologies Center in October 1998 show promise for developing new biomedical products, according to recent research results.