Treatment for anemia in companion animals

DESCRIPTION provided by applicant Anemia caused by chronic kidney disease CKD affects approximately million cats and dogs in the United States each year Current treatment options involve the use of medicines designed for humans These medications are not FDA approved for use in cats and dogs but in the absence of other treatment options they are used off label Use of human anemia drugs in animals runs the risk of triggering a severe autoimmune reaction that puts the animalandapos s health at great risk Our intent is to develop a safe medication to treat anemia in companion animals This medication will be a novel synthetic peptide that treats anemia while not triggering the often fatal autoimmune reaction that is caused by repeated use of human anemia drugs The estimated pet population in the U S is M owned cats and M dogs according to the American Pet Products Association The Banfield State of Pet Health study indicates that of cats have CKD Approximately of cats will develop anemia as their renal disease worsens CKD is more common in cats but cancer another major cause of anemia is common in dogs We estimate that approximately cats and dogs would receive treatment with this drug each year In addition to commercialization potential the proposed study can provide information on synthetic anemia drugs which can impact human health The global One Health initiative a consortium of medical societies government agencies and doctors recognizes that human health including mental health through human animal bond animal health and the ecosystem are inexorably linked Insight from this study could lead to a new class of synthetic anemia drugs for humans Our ongoing experiments have identified peptides that bind to the feline and canine receptors responsible for stimulating production of red blood cells We propose to make these peptides in a form that should activate these receptors and then test them in cultured cells we will construct using the feline and canine receptors This will allow us to pick the best peptides as candidates for our new drug This work will set the stage for testing of the drug candidates in cats and dogs to demonstrate their ability to treat anemia PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE A treatment for anemia in companion animals could impact the health of nearly a half million cats and dogs per year Studies funded by NIH and CDC have identified a link between pet ownership and the physical and mental health of humans Sixty two percent of households have pets and the majority of pet owners consider pets as part of the family The one health initiative demonstrates that human and pet health are inexorably linked