Shark Inspired Drug Raises Hope For Patients With Lung Infections

Australian scientists have renewed hope that a new drug for the treatment of an incurable lung disease is underway. According to the researchers, the drug that mimics part of a Shark’s immune system may help treat the lung disease.
The drug, AD-114, was developed by researchers at Melbourne’s La Trobe University and biotechnology company AdAlta in Australia. Initial testing successfully targeted fibrosiscausing cells by creating a human protein that imitated the shark’s antibody, according to Dr. Mick Foley, from the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Science in Melbourne, Australia. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) scars lung tissue, causing breathing to become progressively harder.
IPF is a chronic and ultimately fatal disease characterised by a progressive decline in lung function. The term pulmonary fibrosis means scarring of lung tissue and is the cause of worsening dyspnea (shortness of breath).
Although, there is no data to estimate its burden in Nigeria, IPF kills more than 5,000 people each year in the United Kingdom, UK alone, according to the British Lung Foundation.
The researchers hope the new drug, inspired by an antibody in the blood of Sharks, can begin human trials next year. Foley said, “Fibrosis is the end result of a lot of different insults and injuries.
This molecule can kill the cells that cause fibrosis.” IPF symptoms include shortness of breath, especially during exercise, which gradually gets worse, and a persistent dry cough.
There is currently no cure; so, treatment focuses on trying to relieve symptoms and slow its progression. The United States, U.S. Food and Drug Administration this month designated AD-114 an “orphan drug” – a move which gives tax breaks to companies attempting to find treatments for diseases.
Respiratory diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide. Lung infections (mostly pneumonia and tuberculosis), lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) together accounted for 9.5 million deaths worldwide, one-sixth of the global total. The World Health Organization estimates that the same four diseases accounted for one-tenth of the disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) lost worldwide in 200.
The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study recently compared the contribution of major diseases to deaths and disability worldwide for 1990 and 2010. Among the leading causes of death, lower respiratory infections were ranked 3rd in 1990 and 4th in 2010, whereas COPD was ranked 4th in 1990 and 3rd in 2010. Lung cancer rose from 8th- to 5th- commonest cause of death, while tuberculosis fell from 6th to 10th position in the ranking.
The GBD Study also presented rankings for years lived with disability, among which asthma ranked 13th worldwide in 1990 and 14th in 2010, while COPD ranked 6th in 1990 and 5th in 2010. When premature deaths and disability were combined as DALYs  lost, lower respiratory infections were ranked the leading cause worldwide in 1990, and the 2nd most important cause of DALYs lost in 2010. Also among the 25 most important causes were COPD (ranked 6th in 1990 and 9th in 2010), tuberculosis (ranked 8th in 1990 and 13th in 2010) and lung cancer (ranked 24th in 1990 and 22nd in 2010).
Between 2010 and 2016, it is believed that fatality in lung diseases has risen very high and is now topping the list of major causes of death in recent time. With the recent discovery of the Shark inspired drug, There is hope that the trend may be reversed in the near future.