Lead Technology

Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD

Jeffrey A. Whitsett, MD

Jeff is responsible for the discovery of the technologies now being developed by Airway Therapeutics and serves on the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board. He is currently Executive Director of the Perinatal Institute and Chief of the Section of Neonatology Perinatal, and Pulmonary Biology at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Jeff received his medical degree from Columbia University, and has been a faculty member at Cincinnati Children’s since 1977. He has made a series of groundbreaking contributions in pulmonary medicine and is the author of over 400 papers in both basic science and clinical literature. Jeff played a critical role in making surfactant replacement a routine tool for treating immature lungs and respiratory distress syndrome in premature infants.

The Company’s lead product candidate is recombinant human surfactant protein D (rhSP-D). SP-D is a normal protein component of lung surfactant that has three critical roles in maintaining healthy lung function:

  1. SP-D is required for the normal structure and function of lung surfactant, the phospholipid and protein complex that covers the surface of the lung alveoli, thereby reducing surface tension in the alveoli and keeping breathing effort to a minimum[1-4],
  2. SP-D is a major component in the innate immune response system in the lung and has been shown to be important in the clearance of bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens[5, 6], and
  3. SP-D has a significant anti-inflammatory function that is independent of its role in pathogen clearance[7].

The Company’s product candidate, rhSP-D, has been shown in animal studies recently conducted at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) to dramatically reduce lung inflammation and inflammatory cell accumulation in lungs when it was administered together with lipid surfactant. The disorders currently targeted for near-term development are bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF).

Learn More About rhSP-D

References

  1. Korfhagen, T.R., et al., Surfactant protein-D regulates surfactant phospholipid homeostasis in vivo. J Biol Chem, 1998. 273(43): p. 28438-43.
  2. Ikegami, M., et al., Surfactant protein-D regulates the postnatal maturation of pulmonary surfactant lipid pool sizes. J Appl Physiol, 2009. 106(5): p. 1545-52.
  3. Ikegami, M., et al., Surfactant protein D influences surfactant ultrastructure and uptake by alveolar type II cells. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, 2005. 288(3): p. L552-61.
  4. Ikegami, M., et al., Surfactant metabolism in SP-D gene-targeted mice. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, 2000. 279(3): p. L468-76.
  5. Kingma, P.S. and J.A. Whitsett, In defense of the lung: surfactant protein A and surfactant protein D. Curr Opin Pharmacol, 2006. 6(3): p. 277-83.
  6. Wright, J.R., Immunoregulatory functions of surfactant proteins. Nat Rev Immunol, 2005. 5(1): p. 58-68.
  7. Ikegami, M., et al., Surfactant protein-D and surfactant inhibit endotoxin-induced pulmonary inflammation. Chest, 2007. 132(5): p. 1447-54.