My only commentary would be that these results do not read like clinical success, but rather something suggesting they should move on to phase III clinical trials.
This is the only publication I found in a quick search:
Objectives: Nerve growth factor β (β-NGF) is a protein which is important to the development of neurons particularly those involved in the transmission of pain and is central to the experience of pain in osteoarthritis (OA). Direct NGF antagonism has been shown to reduce OA pain but is associated with rapidly progressive OA. The aim of the study is to investigate the ability of soluble neurotrophin receptors in the NGF pathway to modulate pain in OA.
Methods: Synovial fluid (SF) was obtained from the knee joints of 43 subjects who underwent total knee arthroplasty. Visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores were obtained prior to surgery. Customised-automated-ELISAs and commercial-ELISAs and LEGENDplex™ were used to measure soluble low-affinity nerve growth factor (LNGFR), soluble tropomyosin receptor kinase (TrkA), proNGF, β-NGF, other neurotrophins (NT) and cytokines including inflammatory marker TNF-α.
Results: The VAS score positively correlated with β-NGF (r=0.34) and there was positive association trend with neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), BDNF and negative association trend with ProNGF. sLNGFR positively correlated with VAS (r=0.33). The β-NGF/soluble TrkA ratio showed a strong positive correlation with VAS (r=0.80). In contrast, there was no correlation between pain and the β-NGF/sLNGFR ratio (r=-0.08). TNF-α positively correlated with β-NGF (r=0.83), NT-3 (r=0.66), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (r=0.50) and negatively with ProNGF (r= -0.74) and positively correlated with both soluble TrkA (r=0.62), sLNGFR (r=0.26).
Conclusions: This study suggests that endogenous or cleaved sLNGFR, but not soluble TrkA may participate in OA pain modulation thus supporting further research into soluble LNGFR as a therapeutic target in OA.
Sounds significant. Phase II is typically not enough to tell if a drug is good because most drugs aren’t that effective compared to current standard of care- you need the large numbers of phase iii to see the real difference. But looks like this drug shows a marked improvement in phase ii itself so it’s actually quite impressive. Last time I read such a story was for imatinib. Expecting good things from this.
Interesting - this looks like Beransa[1] (Librela) which is a monthly injection for canines that have osteoarthritis. My dog did not have any noticeable changes to pain after using this for 2 months so I've decided to take him off of it.
where it says he took all his savings and "beat arthritis": it doesn't appear he has arthritis, he's an entrepreneur who took all his savings and founded a drug startup company with an idea he had around the time Pfizer laid him off
The title is a bit misleading, but technically correct, as in it doesn't say my arthritis. But I'm still going to take it, along with every other headline about medical (or energy) breakthrough with a biiiig grain of salt, as these are often sales pitches to attract investors.
I disagree with the critique - his JOB was / is to FIGHT arthritis on a scientific basis.
Reasoning: He does not come off as a person without sympathy, and without empathy, so I feel comfortable assuming he FEELS it when the downstream users of his discoveries achieve improvement in their life due to his "fighting" medical work.
yeah. somehow I also thought the same, but both interpretations are valid. I felt more irked by the title being in the first person when in fact the article is not written by the person seemingly making that statement
> The drug is based on a molecule he discovered while working at Pfizer, and can be delivered via a once-a-month EpiPen-style injection, where it restores protective processes to diseased joints and enables the regeneration of affected tissues. It works by blocking a compound that supports the nerve cells involved in transmitting pain signals to the brain.
So, it restores lost tissue by numbing nerves? This makes no sense.
Wonder if it's just poor reporting or if there is something to this?
It's actually way more complicated than I think the article can explain to the audience it's targeting. Nerve Growth Factors turn a bunch of different "dials" in the body. The main ones of course are the growth, maintenance, and survival of neurons in different parts of the body however some other "dials" they adjust are inflammation and immune response.
So it affects the nerves in a much more complex way than simple numbing and on top of that it also plays a part in regulating inflammation and auto-immune activity that may worsen arthritis and prevent the body from healing what it can.
And this is a gross oversimplification but it gets the function across a bit better than the article.
The drug blocks NT-3, which is involved in nerve signaling and regeneration, but also is thought to play a role in causing the excess inflammation that leads to joint degeneration in osteoarthritis. By blocking it, it seems they believe it may allow the joints time to heal from the excess inflammation that had been causing degeneration.
The drug is based on a molecule he discovered while working at Pfizer
On leaving the company, he acquired the intellectual property [IP] rights from his former employer
A lot of people don't do this when they leave or are terminated. It doesn't usually succeed, but it's always worth at least making the attempt. (In this case, Pfizer gave him the IP rights to the molecule he discovered in exchange for a portion of his company.)
One thing I learned repeatedly while dealing with a chronic health condition is to never assume that you're "about to beat it". I've had that feeling about 1000 times now, and telling that to my family and friends just made me sound like an idiot, since I would invariably regress again.
Now I'm at a point I would only be fine with saying this if I didn't have any issues after a prolonged interval.
This article is about a biotech company that is aiming to reduce pain from arthritis using an injectable chemical (as an alternative to taking ibuprofen every day), whereas I think from your comment it sounds like a personal journey hoping to recover from a chronic health condition (I doubt this is happening any time soon for arthritis, unfortunately).
Some do see remission with the modern expensive Biologics, but those only treat the underlying inflammatory condition. The damage to a body remains from the inflammatory cycles, short-term steroid treatments, and pain medications.
It is one of my biggest pet peeves seeing folks with "good intentions" spout off about nonsense "cures" for a suite of currently chronic conditions. There are specific gene therapies being researched that _may_ remove the need for heavy medications at _some_point_ in the next decade, but the damage done by the disease will still require joint replacement surgeries etc.
Most competent people I've met have zero sense of humor when it comes to this area of research, and would have also fired anyone that mistakes pain medication for a "cure" (unless I misunderstood the press release gibberish.)
Have a great day, and please consider starting a fact-checking wiki like snopes to document the ignorant new age nonsense people perpetuate. =3
Your gut health has a direct impact on your lower back. If you are intolerant of some foods, when you inflame your gut, your lower back can end up in pain as well.
I'm intolerant of a milk protein. I can handle the bathroom consequences, I can't handle the lower back consequences.
Foods that decrease inflammation _probably_ help with arthritis; processed foods _generally_ increase inflammation, which is probably why you feel better not eating them.
There is also nutritionfacts, which takes a science and clinical study based approach to look at how diet plays a role in a whole host of diseases and conditions: https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=arthritis
* nutritionfacts and Dr. Greger do have several vocal opponents however, so I encourage you to read the studies themselves and come to your own conclusions
I have a sero-negative inflammatory arthritis. The only thing that makes it better is meloxicam; that shit is AMAZINGLY effective, completely makes my symptoms go away for 2-3 days if I take the full 15mg. Unfortunately due to the risk of stomach bleeding and my sensitive stomach, I only take 7.5mg every now and then and only 15mg when I really need to do something active (walk long distances). Note: I tried celecoxib and it did nothing, but some people have luck with it over meloxicam.
Now there are foods that make it worse: generally anything with high sodium like pizza, fries, fast-food/restaurant food (Chinese food especially). Caffeine also makes it slightly worse. By far the worst of them all is alcohol though. After the alcohol wears off, I'm in so much agony that I can barely walk.
Tangential question: as I now start suffering from arthritis in my hands, I was wondering if there is anything linked to diet that could help reduce it?
I had read that fatty fishes were a good source to reduce pain but in your experience, is there any other food/lifestyle changes that can help alleviate it before resorting to medication?
been on an elimination diet for a while, because if I'm not, I get depression and suicidal ideation.
I don't have a diagnosis for arthritis, but I'm testing around a lot and maybe this info helps you in your journey:
I make gelatine from pig's feet occasionally, when I make it with just salt and some lemon or vinegar, I don't have problems.
Last time I thought, maybe try bell pepper, haven't tried for a while and I seem to do okay with capsaicin. Boy was I wrong, within a week I got horrible joint pain in the feet.
Bell peppers are seemingly high in lectin and other phyto-nutrients.
I recently found on hacker news, that I can neutralize oxolates with a pro-biotic - will try that for lectins next. Have to prepare the gut with L-Glutamine and Silicea.
God's speed!
Edit: Between ingestion and symptoms, it takes about 3-4 days
Anecdote: I have reactive arthritis comorbid with ulcerative colitis. I was getting debilitating arthritis flares once a month until I stopped eating gluten, peanuts, and added sugar. I haven't had an arthritis flare since eliminating these foods.
My rheumatologist wanted to put me on methotrexate but I declined out of fear if the side effects. He never mentioned anything about diet, but clearly a dietary intervention worked for me.
Many times, I met people who genuinely believed they were super close and about to achieve a "huge" breakthrough.
In each case, the scientists themselves, in their minds, were absolutely convinced they were on the brink of unfathomable achievements: curing Alzheimers, or some cancers etc.
Particularly true for the scientists in biomedical startups - they were like Mulder from X-Files; they all wanted (and were desperately eager) to believe. Like Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos, I think she completely believed her own exaggerations and BS - at some point, fact and fiction merge.
Thus I've become extraordinarily skeptical of articles like these.
My cat has the occasional bad arthritis flare up which we give her Solensia (another NGF targeting drug, but via monoclonal antibodies) for. It works incredibly well. Within 12 hours they go from being barely able to walk to being totally fine and mobile again.
[+] [-] brianleb|1 year ago|reply
This is the only publication I found in a quick search:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37976118/
>> Abstract
Objectives: Nerve growth factor β (β-NGF) is a protein which is important to the development of neurons particularly those involved in the transmission of pain and is central to the experience of pain in osteoarthritis (OA). Direct NGF antagonism has been shown to reduce OA pain but is associated with rapidly progressive OA. The aim of the study is to investigate the ability of soluble neurotrophin receptors in the NGF pathway to modulate pain in OA.
Methods: Synovial fluid (SF) was obtained from the knee joints of 43 subjects who underwent total knee arthroplasty. Visual analogue scale (VAS) pain scores were obtained prior to surgery. Customised-automated-ELISAs and commercial-ELISAs and LEGENDplex™ were used to measure soluble low-affinity nerve growth factor (LNGFR), soluble tropomyosin receptor kinase (TrkA), proNGF, β-NGF, other neurotrophins (NT) and cytokines including inflammatory marker TNF-α.
Results: The VAS score positively correlated with β-NGF (r=0.34) and there was positive association trend with neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), BDNF and negative association trend with ProNGF. sLNGFR positively correlated with VAS (r=0.33). The β-NGF/soluble TrkA ratio showed a strong positive correlation with VAS (r=0.80). In contrast, there was no correlation between pain and the β-NGF/sLNGFR ratio (r=-0.08). TNF-α positively correlated with β-NGF (r=0.83), NT-3 (r=0.66), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (r=0.50) and negatively with ProNGF (r= -0.74) and positively correlated with both soluble TrkA (r=0.62), sLNGFR (r=0.26).
Conclusions: This study suggests that endogenous or cleaved sLNGFR, but not soluble TrkA may participate in OA pain modulation thus supporting further research into soluble LNGFR as a therapeutic target in OA.
[+] [-] ramraj07|1 year ago|reply
Sounds significant. Phase II is typically not enough to tell if a drug is good because most drugs aren’t that effective compared to current standard of care- you need the large numbers of phase iii to see the real difference. But looks like this drug shows a marked improvement in phase ii itself so it’s actually quite impressive. Last time I read such a story was for imatinib. Expecting good things from this.
[+] [-] papercrane|1 year ago|reply
They haven't posted the results yet. They have posted a press release saying the results were positive and that they will post the results in a peer reviewed journal. https://levicept.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Levicept-Cli...
[+] [-] vjk800|1 year ago|reply
I was thinking it would be something that helps the worn ligament grow back. That I would consider a real cure.
[+] [-] deamanto|1 year ago|reply
[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedinvetmab
[+] [-] fsckboy|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Cthulhu_|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] dazzawazza|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] ncr100|1 year ago|reply
Reasoning: He does not come off as a person without sympathy, and without empathy, so I feel comfortable assuming he FEELS it when the downstream users of his discoveries achieve improvement in their life due to his "fighting" medical work.
[+] [-] unknown|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] kazinator|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] 627467|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] cqqxo4zV46cp|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Buttons840|1 year ago|reply
So, it restores lost tissue by numbing nerves? This makes no sense.
Wonder if it's just poor reporting or if there is something to this?
[+] [-] agumonkey|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] jacoblambda|1 year ago|reply
So it affects the nerves in a much more complex way than simple numbing and on top of that it also plays a part in regulating inflammation and auto-immune activity that may worsen arthritis and prevent the body from healing what it can.
And this is a gross oversimplification but it gets the function across a bit better than the article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerve_growth_factor
[+] [-] TeaBrain|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] ramraj07|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] zeofig|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] dotdi|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] gamblor956|1 year ago|reply
On leaving the company, he acquired the intellectual property [IP] rights from his former employer
A lot of people don't do this when they leave or are terminated. It doesn't usually succeed, but it's always worth at least making the attempt. (In this case, Pfizer gave him the IP rights to the molecule he discovered in exchange for a portion of his company.)
[+] [-] ruok_throwaway|1 year ago|reply
Now I'm at a point I would only be fine with saying this if I didn't have any issues after a prolonged interval.
[+] [-] acchow|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] socksy|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] Joel_Mckay|1 year ago|reply
It is one of my biggest pet peeves seeing folks with "good intentions" spout off about nonsense "cures" for a suite of currently chronic conditions. There are specific gene therapies being researched that _may_ remove the need for heavy medications at _some_point_ in the next decade, but the damage done by the disease will still require joint replacement surgeries etc.
Most competent people I've met have zero sense of humor when it comes to this area of research, and would have also fired anyone that mistakes pain medication for a "cure" (unless I misunderstood the press release gibberish.)
Have a great day, and please consider starting a fact-checking wiki like snopes to document the ignorant new age nonsense people perpetuate. =3
[+] [-] bilsbie|1 year ago|reply
(Not sure if I have arthritis but really sore hips and lower back.)
[+] [-] InvaderFizz|1 year ago|reply
I'm intolerant of a milk protein. I can handle the bathroom consequences, I can't handle the lower back consequences.
[+] [-] chrisa|1 year ago|reply
For more than just anecdotes you can go to the data/studies; pubmed.gov is a great resource for finding studies: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=arthritis+diet
There is also nutritionfacts, which takes a science and clinical study based approach to look at how diet plays a role in a whole host of diseases and conditions: https://nutritionfacts.org/?s=arthritis
* nutritionfacts and Dr. Greger do have several vocal opponents however, so I encourage you to read the studies themselves and come to your own conclusions
[+] [-] y-c-o-m-b|1 year ago|reply
Now there are foods that make it worse: generally anything with high sodium like pizza, fries, fast-food/restaurant food (Chinese food especially). Caffeine also makes it slightly worse. By far the worst of them all is alcohol though. After the alcohol wears off, I'm in so much agony that I can barely walk.
[+] [-] nordsieck|1 year ago|reply
What does "processed foods" mean? Do you eat raw food that isn't combined in any way?
[+] [-] cies|1 year ago|reply
(They were already eating very "clean": little meat, no refined sugar, no refined starches, very little vegetable oils)
Dairy, as I understand it, is highly inflammatory. Arthritis is some form of inflammation.
[+] [-] Renaud|1 year ago|reply
I had read that fatty fishes were a good source to reduce pain but in your experience, is there any other food/lifestyle changes that can help alleviate it before resorting to medication?
[+] [-] mgarfias|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] purple-leafy|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] neonate|1 year ago|reply
https://archive.ph/h1b5G
https://web.archive.org/web/20240812004600/https://www.theti...
[+] [-] aszantu|1 year ago|reply
I don't have a diagnosis for arthritis, but I'm testing around a lot and maybe this info helps you in your journey:
I make gelatine from pig's feet occasionally, when I make it with just salt and some lemon or vinegar, I don't have problems.
Last time I thought, maybe try bell pepper, haven't tried for a while and I seem to do okay with capsaicin. Boy was I wrong, within a week I got horrible joint pain in the feet.
Bell peppers are seemingly high in lectin and other phyto-nutrients.
I recently found on hacker news, that I can neutralize oxolates with a pro-biotic - will try that for lectins next. Have to prepare the gut with L-Glutamine and Silicea.
God's speed!
Edit: Between ingestion and symptoms, it takes about 3-4 days
[+] [-] zeofig|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|1 year ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] shoggouth|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] neonate|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] fnord77|1 year ago|reply
Thinks can go wrong in Phase III.
Relyvrio (HIV vaccine) did well in P2 but flopped on P3.
Cancer drug xevinapant failed in P3 after Merck executives were reassuring analysts that the failure of a phase 3 trial of xevinapant was “unlikely.”
[+] [-] sargun|1 year ago|reply
I don't think any HIV vaccines have gotten to phase III yet.
[+] [-] supertofu|1 year ago|reply
My rheumatologist wanted to put me on methotrexate but I declined out of fear if the side effects. He never mentioned anything about diet, but clearly a dietary intervention worked for me.
[+] [-] freediver|1 year ago|reply
This looks more promising: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ1CLtc8oIk
[+] [-] DataDive|1 year ago|reply
Many times, I met people who genuinely believed they were super close and about to achieve a "huge" breakthrough.
In each case, the scientists themselves, in their minds, were absolutely convinced they were on the brink of unfathomable achievements: curing Alzheimers, or some cancers etc.
Particularly true for the scientists in biomedical startups - they were like Mulder from X-Files; they all wanted (and were desperately eager) to believe. Like Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos, I think she completely believed her own exaggerations and BS - at some point, fact and fiction merge.
Thus I've become extraordinarily skeptical of articles like these.
[+] [-] __alexs|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] ludston|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] notpushkin|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] martin82|1 year ago|reply
[+] [-] feverzsj|1 year ago|reply
More like Pfizer invested in an employee's startup.