Diabetic Kidney Disease
Mounting evidence implicates CTGF as a central mediator of diabetic kidney disease (DKD) for which current treatments fail to stop disease progression. FibroGen believes that FG-3019, a therapeutic antibody against CTGF, could provide significant kidney protection, resulting in reduced proteinuria and slower decline of renal function. Research also suggests a role for anti-CTGF therapy in cardiovascular complications of diabetes.
Unmet Medical Need
Worldwide, 171 million people have diabetes, and dramatic increases in DKD are accompanying this epidemic. There are no currently available treatments that stop the progression of DKD to kidney failure. Read more
CTGF Plays a Central Role in DKD
Research shows that CTGF is involved in multiple pathogenic processes associated with DKD, such as fibrosis, hyperfiltration, proteinuria, hypertrophy, myofibroblast differentiation, microvascular leakage, and edema. Read more
Potential Benefits of Anti-CTGF Therapy in DKD
Research suggests that blocking the activity of CTGF could provide multiple therapeutic benefits in treating DKD including:
- Reduce proteinuria
- Delay or prevent progression to dialysis
- Decrease cardiovascular risk factor
Clinical Studies
Early data from a phase 1 study suggests that treatment with FG-3019, a fully human monoclonal antibody against CTGF, results in rapid reduction of proteinuria. A similar phase 1 study of FG-3019 in patients with diabetes and more severe macroalbuminuria has completed the treatment phase and a phase 2 study of FG-3019 in patients with type 2 diabetes and advanced kidney disease is underway. Read more
Heart Failure and Cardiovascular Comorbidity
Studies show that CTGF may mediate the damaging effects of hyperglycemia and hypertension in different tissues such as the vasculature and heart in addition to the kidney. Anti-CTGF therapy has been shown to prevent and partially reverse arterial stiffness in a diabetic model where anti-hypertensive agents alone did not. Read more
Related Publications
Sakharova O, Taal M, and
Brenner B(2001) Pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy: focus on transforming growth factor-b and connective tissue growth factor. Current Opinion in Nephrology and Hypertension 10:727±738
Twigg SM, Cooper ME(2004) The time has come to target connective tissue growth factor in diabetic complications. Diabetologia 47:965–968
