Spider venom heart drug enters clinical trials – UQ News

A University of Queensland-led project to develop the first-ever drug to treat heart attacks and protect donor hearts is moving into human clinical trials after receiving $17.8 million in funding from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). pass over.

Professor Glenn King from UQ's Institute of Molecular Biosciences (IMB) said the four-year study will evaluate the potential of Hi1a – a peptide in the venom of the K'gari funnel-web spider – as a treatment to prevent heart damage during a heart attack or when a donor heart is removed.

“Our team has shown in animal models that Hi1a protects the heart from damage caused by oxygen deprivation during a heart attack or when a donor heart is removed,” Professor King said.

“This MRFF funding will enable us to conduct human clinical trials to test a miniaturized version of Hi1a as a drug to treat heart attacks and protect donor hearts during the collection process.

“If successful, it will improve patient survival and quality of life, dramatically expand the pool of donor hearts available for transplantation, and significantly reduce healthcare costs.”

The team includes researchers from UQ, VIctor Chang Cardiac Research Institute and the Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute as well as clinicians St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane.

IMBs Associate Professor Nathan Palpant led the studies that showed the effectiveness of Hi1a in models of heart disease and said a drug to treat heart attacks would have significant impact.

“Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in Australia,” said Dr. Palpant.

“Almost 60,000 Australians are hospitalized with a heart attack every year and 7,000 will not survive.

“Of those who survive, a quarter develop debilitating heart failure within a year of their attack.

“Transplantation is the only cure for heart failure, but there is a significant shortage of donor hearts worldwide, in part due to the damage caused during the collection process.

“Despite the enormous socioeconomic burden of heart attack and heart failure, there is no single drug that limits the loss of heart cells during a heart attack or protects donor hearts – our team hopes to change this.””

The clinical trial is the culmination of years of work by the research team investigating the use of Hi1a to treat heart attack and stroke and to increase the viability of donor hearts.

The project will also involve Brisbane-based biotech company Infensa Bioscience, with Professor King as Chief Scientific Officer and Dr. Palpant as head of biology.

Research Evidence that Hi1a had met key criteria for approval for treatment after passing a series of preclinical tests was published in 2024 The European Heart Journal.

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