Workshop Report CIF in EB: Repurposing treatments for EB
EB Research Network (EB Resnet), DEBRA Austria, and our partners LifeArc, held an Expert round-table Workshop in May 2023 to consider opportunities for repurposing therapeutics from other inflammatory and fibrotic conditions, together with identifying potential unexploited intervention targets to prevent disease progression in CIF (chronic inflammation, fibrosis and cancer initiation) in Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB). This formed part of a broader research-prioritization process for investment in therapy development for all types of EB.
The focus of the workshop was on a major and current unmet medical need in EB: how to interrupt the progression from acute to chronic wound, chronic inflammation, and fibrosis (CIF) to cancer initiation, seen primarily in dystrophic EB (DEB), and especially in recessive DEB (RDEB). By considering research gaps in biological understanding and technological challenges in therapy delivery, the goal was to consider known disease mechanisms and hence drug candidates for repurposing, as well as to identify novel unexploited mechanisms and novel targets.
At present, there is no cure for any form of EB, although multiple technologies are being pursued, and clinical trials are in progress for therapies addressing either the underlying defects or symptom relief, for all types of EB. In the past year, a couple of therapies have received regulatory approval. However, efficacy, safety, durability, and the need for systemic ‘curative’ therapies remains challenging. Addressing defective wound healing and preventing disease progression presents opportunities for novel or repurposed therapeutics, as sole, or complementary, treatments.
Download the long workshop report and a summary in lay language (soon available) below.
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