Technology can spur heart failure therapy

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- University of Minnesota scientists say they have developed a technology that can help speed development of drug treatments for heart failure.

The researchers, in collaboration with the Celladon Corp., said the technology can more rapidly identify compounds for heart failure therapy.

Chronic heart failure affects about 5.7 million people in the United States, producing about 290,000 deaths annually. However, the medical researchers say developing new treatments is costly and time-consuming, taking nearly a decade to gain regulatory approval and requiring hundreds of millions of dollars.

The scientists said the technology developed by Professor David Thomas, Assistant Professor Razvan Cornea and Celladon Corp. President Krisztina Zsebo allows for increased screening efficiency of compounds capable of disrupting the interactions of proteins implicated in the development of heart failure. That, they said, will provide key information on a particular drug's likelihood of success early during the screening process.

Celladon, based in La Jolla, Calif., has acquired an exclusive license from the University of Minnesota to develop molecular therapies for cardiovascular diseases.