Investigational medication may be alternative to dialysis

[RightSide]

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today announced a $2 million investment through the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) in ZS Pharma, Inc., for the development of its therapeutic solution for the treatment of complications associated with liver and kidney failure.

“Texas continues to lead the nation in the evolving biotechnology industry thanks to an environment that encourages innovation and investments from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund,” Gov. Perry said. “This investment in ZS Pharma will help develop a therapy that will provide kidney and liver failure patients with a more effective and less dangerous alternative to current blood cleansing treatments.”

ZS’ therapy uses zirconium silicate crystals to specifically target excess toxins, such as potassium, ammonium, urea and phosphate that have built up in the body as a result of liver or kidney failure. There is currently no effective treatment for hyperkalemia, or high levels of potassium in the blood, and treatments that exist are not suited for chronic conditions that require constant treatment. Taken with food, ZS’ tasteless and odorless therapy provides an alternative to hemodialysis which can be dangerous and more expensive.

The TETF is a $200 million initiative created by the Texas Legislature in 2005 at the governor’s request, and reauthorized in 2007 and again in 2009. A 17-member advisory committee of high-tech leaders, entrepreneurs and research experts reviews potential projects and recommends funding allocations to the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. TETF has allocated more than $159 million in funds to 113 early stage companies, and $161 million in grant matching and research superiority funds to Texas universities.

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My take:

If meds can be developed which can bind to toxins in the lower intestines, that could reduce the need for dialysis only to remove excess fluid. And for those of us who are still producing urine and can manage fluid balance, we wouldn't need dialysis at all.

Cool!

Here's more info from ZS Pharma's website:

http://www.zspharma.com/uzsi-9
]

[greg10]

Thank you.  Interesting technology.   Zirconium silicates have been tried in sorbent dialysis, but it may work as an oral sorbent as well (it is not clear why there are few sorbent dialysis being offered, some of the major suppliers such as Fresenius & Baxter have worked on it).
The question remains, however, whether ZrSi is safe long term and how much it decreases the nutritional value of the food that a patient consumes.

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=Ammonium+Removal+With+A+Novel+Zirconium+Silicate
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1525-139X.2009.00657.x/abstract
Animal tests have proven that zirconium silicates can
be workable as oral sorbents not only for ammonia
derived from urea, but also potassium. In a study
reported at the ASAIO conference in 2007, we demon-
strated that by feeding zirconium silicate at 10% of food
weight to rats, we could decrease the urine concentration
of urea nitrogen by 33% (16). This meant that the clear-
ance by the gut for urea nitrogen was approximately
50% of the normal kidney clearance. We also showed
that the urinary potassium excretion decreased by 93%
in the first few days after zirconium silicate was added to
the foodstuff. Potassium excretion barely recovered after
foods returned to normal.
There is a promising future for oral absorbents for
patients with chronic kidney disease. If we had a sorbent
taken orally, which would bind 30–50% of the nitrogen
taken in by the patient and inordinate amounts of potas-
sium at the same time, then our patients acquiring
chronic kidney disease would not need severe dietary
restrictions. In fact, we could allow them to eat all of the
protein, potassium, and even phosphate foods that they
wished. Thus, we would not have people coming to dial-
ysis in a malnourished state, but rather with normal
nutrition.