Dr Aziz Ghahary (left) and Dr. Ryan Hartwell (Plastic Surgery) (right)
have developed as an anti-scarring treatment for people suffering from severe burns. Scarring results from the body over-repairing after an injury, surgery or disease. The drug is designed to stop that over-repair. During pre-clinical development, the team discovered that the drug also shows promise for reversing autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis and a hair loss condition known as alopecia areata when used in conjunction with another UBC therapy. “The potential impact for burn patients alone would be dramatic, both in terms of health outcomes and health care savings,” said Dr. Hartwell, who is also chief science officer and president of BirchBioMed the spin-off company they started to support the development of this drug.
Read details UBC researchers develop drug to treat scarring and autoimmune diseases
Funding for this research comes from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Counsel, BC Professional Firefighters Burn Fund, VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, WorkSafeBC, and Spectra Energy.
posted : 2015-September-7