Featured Stories

  • The COVID Heart - One Year After SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Patients Have an Array of Increased Cardiovascular Risks

    The COVID Heart - One Year After SARS-CoV-2 Infection, Patients Have an Array of Increased Cardiovascular Risks Published March 2, 2022: JAMA doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.2411

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  • Long-term Cardiovascular Outcomes of COVID-19

    Long-term cardiovascular outcomes of COVID-19 Published Feb. 7, 2022: Nature Medecine  https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-022-01689-3  

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  • Understanding Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Outcome Measures

    Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, life-threatening condition characterized by elevated blood pressure in the arteries which carry blood from the heart to the lungs. The high blood...

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  • Calgary-based biotech firm specializes in instructing cells to fight complex diseases

    Imagine a world where a host of diseases and conditions caused by non-beneficial instructions from our DNA could be treated simply by instructing our cells to ignore those signals. That science is...

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  • Health Matters: Alberta-developed drug could help prevent long COVID

    Health Matters February 2: Calgary company Resverlogix has developed a drug that could not only stop COVID-19 illness from progressing, it also has potential to prevent chronic symptoms, or long...

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  • Calgary Company's COVID Drug Going to Phase Two Trials

    Calgary-based biotech company Resverlogix moves into a phase two clinical trial for an oral treatment Apabetalone for COVID-19. And they are looking for patients to participate in the study....

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  • Made-in-Alberta drug being tested on COVID-19 patients

    New drug trial to treat COVID-19 patients has been launched at the University of Alberta. Hiba Kamal-Choufi reports.

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  • 'Exciting breakthrough': COVID-19 drug trial to take place in Edmonton

    Trials for a Canadian-developed COVID-19 treatment are set to begin at the University of Alberta. CTV News Edmonton - Aired January 24, 2022

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  • An Alberta-developed oral treatment for COVID-19 has begun testing at the University of Alberta hospital

    J'lyn Nye interviews RVX President & CEO Donald McCaffrey about our Phase 2b COVID-19 Clinical Trial on 630 CHED

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  • Some COVID-19 patients in Edmonton begin potential trial treatment, apabetalone, an Alberta-developed drug

    By Kellen Taniguchi Edmonton Journal, January 18, 2022  

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  • Epigenetic Therapies Start Operating Outside the Lines

    Drug developers are sourcing novel structures, bridging transcriptional and signaling domains, and exploring applications beyond oncology GEN: Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News...

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  • Resverlogix in Active Discussions with Morocco

    Resverlogix is in active discussions for COVID-19 clinical studies in Morocco involving apabetalone.

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  • Donald McCaffrey at Benzinga All Access

    Resverlogix President & CEO Donald McCaffrey presents at Benzinga All Access conference 2021

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  • Resverlogix: The Future of Drug Development

    Clip of Donald McCaffrey, President & CEO of Resverlogix which aired on Fox News December 18, 2021.   © 2021 www.B-TV.com . All Rights Reserved.  

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  • Apabetalone meets primary endpoint in PAH pilot study

    Resverlogix reported that its lead drug apabetalone met its primary endpoint in a pulmonary arterial hypertension or ‘PAH’ investigator led pilot study. Watch the news...

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  • EVERSANA & Resverlogix Discuss Partnership On PharmaVOICE Webinar

    Rohit Sood, EVP, COMPLETE Commercialization, EVERSANA / Donald McCaffrey, President & CEO, Resverlogix: Next Generation Commercial Innovation: Moving From Promise to Practice. 

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  • Donald McCaffrey featured on Innovators with Jane King

    Donald McCaffrey, President & CEO of Resverlogix featured on Innovators with Jane King. Latest updates on the Company's COVID-19 program.

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  • COVID-19 Program Update with Donald McCaffrey

    CEO Donald McCaffrey joined PBA à Noon, for a live webinar and Q&A, to discuss the latest developments in Resverlogix' COVID-19 program.

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  • Health Canada Authorizes COVID-19 Clinical Study

    Resverlogix receives "No Objection Letter" from Health Canada, approving the COVID-19 Clinical Trial Application for apabetalone.

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  • Apabetalone May Prevent Heart Damage Caused by COVID-19

    COVID-19 affects not only lung and respiratory tissue but can injure your heart as well. One study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 78% of recently...

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  • Balancing Epigenetics in the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease

    Kidneys are the body’s filtration system . They clean our blood, removing waste and helping manage blood pressure by controlling the outflow of water. Unfortunately, when these filters...

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  • Targeting Epigenetics as a New Therapy in Vascular Disease and Dementia

    Cardiovascular disease literally means disease of the heart and blood vessels, but it can cause additional life-altering complications that we might not initially associate with the disease,...

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  • The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease: Series Final

    This is the final article of the mini-series, The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease , looking at the different presentations, symptoms, and root causes of a disease that affects millions of men...

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  • The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease: Part 4

    This article is part of a mini-series, The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease , looking at the different presentations, symptoms, and root causes of a disease that affects millions of men and women...

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  • The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease: Part 3

    This article is part of a mini-series, The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease , looking at the different presentations, symptoms, and root causes of a disease that affects millions of men and women...

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  • The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease: Part 2

    This article is part of a mini-series, The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease , looking at the different presentations, symptoms, and root causes of a disease that affects millions of men and women...

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  • The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease: Part 1

    This article is part of a mini-series we are calling The Faces of Cardiovascular Disease , looking at the different presentations, symptoms, and root causes of a disease that affects millions of...

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  • Apabetalone: A Relative Size Animation

    Our lead compound – apabetalone – is the first small molecule of its kind with potentially important benefits for patients with high-risk cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. But...

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  • Balancing Epigenetics in the Treatment of Chronic Kidney Disease

    Kidneys are the body’s filtration system. They clean our blood, removing waste and helping manage blood pressure by controlling the outflow of water. Unfortunately, when these filters stop working properly, as often happens with age or disease, you cannot simply replace the cartridge.

    An Umbrella Term

    Chronic kidney disease is an umbrella term for conditions that affect the function and output of the kidneys. A broad range of underlying causes degrade kidney function, including infections, genetic conditions, autoimmune diseases, pharmaceuticals (prescribed or illicit) and kidney stone obstructions. Similarly, chronic kidney disease severity, course of progression, and treatment options are widely varied. Kidney function can be assessed in several ways, and when a drop in function – below certain thresholds – persists for more than three months it is called chronic kidney disease.

    Chronic kidney disease in the developed world is predominantly associated with old age, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Kidney disease is commonly a slowly progressing disease and is most often found in people over the age of 65. With time, kidney function can decline to the point where dialysis or even transplantation is required. Chronic kidney disease is also frequently associated with a higher risk of heart disease, stroke and early death.

    The Heart of the Matter

    Ongoing research to understand the correlation between chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease has highlighted a critical finding: the two diseases share a common pathology.

    “In fact, it doesn’t always make sense to think of vascular disease and kidney disease as being distinct from each other,” says Dr. Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, Head of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at The University of California, Irvine School of Medicine and a Professor of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Public Health. “The same biological processes that damage small blood vessels in the heart and brain, increasing a patient’s risk of heart attack or stroke, can also affect vessels of the kidneys, negatively affecting their function.”

    Irritants in the blood – such as high glucose levels resulting from diabetes – inflame the cells that line our blood vessels. Persistent inflammation in the vasculature damages small vessels over time, and creates an environment that promotes the deposition of calcium-rich minerals in the vessel walls. Resulting obstructions and blockages reduce tissue blood flow, which starves cells of oxygen and nutrients. When this happens in the blood vessels that feed the kidneys, portions of the kidneys may be left scarred and unable to filter out waste products optimally.

    As the filtration capacity of the kidneys decline, excess water cannot be as readily cleared from the body. This raises blood pressure and puts added strain on the heart, making it more likely to fail.  The added pressure is also felt by the small vessels of the heart and brain, which increases the likelihood of heart attack and stroke.

    Targeting Common Pathways

    Many measureable indicators of the presence or severity of disease, called biomarkers, overlap between chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. One important shared biomarker is alkaline phosphatase, a protein that is normally found primarily in liver, kidneys and bone. Alkaline phosphatase is a critical component in calcification required for bone healing and remodeling. However, excessive alkaline phosphatase in the bloodstream plays a pathological role in the vasculature, contributing to calcium deposition, vessel stiffness, obstruction and reduced blood flow. High levels of alkaline phosphatase in the bloodstream correlate with a greater mortality risk.

    “The broad role of alkaline phosphatase makes it a bit of a paradoxical target in chronic kidney disease,” Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh explains, “Too much is linked to poor outcomes, but if we were to remove it completely, we could upset bone healing or other important processes, which would likely make things even worse. What we need is a way to normalize alkaline phosphatase back to healthy levels.”

    This need for balance is not unique. Many of our body’s normal processes, when dysregulated, contribute to disease progression. Chronic inflammation, for example, is the consequence of high immune system activity, despite its beneficial role in the resolution of acute injury or infection.  

    “The same biological processes that are responsible for defending against infections will slowly damage tissues and organs if active for too long,” adds Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh, “It’s a matter of balance.”

    Normalizing Gene Expression

    Epigenetics is an exciting new area of research for the treatment of chronic disease. Epigenetic processes regulate the activation and deactivation of genes in our cells, controlling subsequent protein production. According to Dr. Kalantar-Zadeh, “Epigenetic regulation gives us a mechanism to tweak the amount of proteins produced by a cell and alter the activity of pathways that we know to be driving disease progression.  If we could harness that promise in a therapeutic, it would be groundbreaking.” Indeed, this is the goal of Resverlogix in the development of its lead compound apabetalone.

    The ongoing clinical trial, BETonMACE, includes monitoring of kidney function in a pre-specified subpopulation of at-risk patients. Results from these analyses will pave the way for a planned clinical trial focused on chronic kidney disease.