Develop an implementable delivery system to repair damaged heart muscle to improve patient health outcomes, wellbeing and survival after a heart attack.
Unmet needs for heart disease treatment
Diseases causing damage to heart muscle cells can lead to heart failure and result in a 5-year survival rate – which is second only to cancer for adverse outcomes. Heart failure due to heart muscle damage is a common condition that can result from heart attacks and chemotherapy drugs in adults. In children, genetics and premature birth can affect the growth of the heart muscle, leaving it too weak to function properly. There are currently no therapies that can directly improve heart function. A major roadblock has been the complexity associated with delivery therapeutics to the heart. This has led to an urgent unmet clinical need for innovative treatments that attack the underlying disease and stimulate the growth of new healthy heart muscle cells.
What does the research aim to do and how?
This research will optimise delivery systems for therapeutics that have been discovered by our team and other researchers worldwide and are showing promise in heart tissue regeneration. The project aims to specifically target damaged heart muscle cells that receive weak blood flow after a heart attack. Molecular sensors will be used to choose the best candidate for testing in a cutting-edge preclinical heart attack model. This research will
produce a universal method for delivering regenerative therapies in the next stage of the drug development pathway.