FACTS:
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the leading global cause of death. About 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year (1 in every 4). Total direct medical costs of CVD are expected to increase to $749 billion by 2035. Underdog Pharmaceuticals seeks to stop or reverse atherosclerosis by removing a harmful lipid known as 7-ketocholesterol (7KC) from the arterial walls. Their research has combined computational and synthetic chemistry programs to create custom-engineered cyclodextrins (polysaccharides with known industrial and pharmaceutical excipient uses) to capture, and remove from cells, toxic oxidized cholesterol derivatives such as 7-ketocholesterol.
QUOTES:
Co-founder Matthew O’Connor, Ph.D:
“We’ve taken a well-known and extremely safe compound, and have created novel derivatives that can specifically target the toxic biomolecule that drives the development of atherosclerosis, the cause of most heart attacks and strokes.”
Co-founder Michael Kope:
“Underdog will take a classic pharmaceutical approach and use it to attack the root causes of cardiovascular disease,” … “If we’re successful, we won’t just be ameliorating the disease, but reversing it.”
SOURCE:
To see the press release from Underdog Pharmaceuticals, click here.