Zealand Pharmaceuticals and Statens Serum Institut to collaborate within cardiac arrhythmia.

The Danish Agency for Trade and Industry has awarded Copenhagen based Zealand Pharmaceuticals A/S and Statens Serum Institut a Euro 1.5m grant for development of drugs for treatment of cardiac arrhythmia based on gap junction related inter-cellular communication.

Zealand has identified gap junction communication as a target platform for a number of indications. In a pharmacological model, Zealand has been able to prevent ventricular tachycardia via the gap junction mechanism.

"The grant will be used to expand our activities within the arrhythmia area and to broaden our general understanding of the role of gap junctions in cell-to-cell communication", said John Hyttel, VP of Biology, Zealand Pharmaceuticals.

Michael Christiansen, Head of Biochemical Markers Laboratory at Statens Serum Institut, adds: "Gap junctions are an exciting new target platform. A major focus of Statens Serum Institut is to explore whether genetic changes in the gap junction function is a cause of arrhythmia in families with a history of cardiac arrhythmia".

Ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation are primary causes of sudden cardiac death. More than 2 mill. people die annually from sudden cardiac death in Europe and the United States, and there has been no significant advancement in the pharmacological treatment of cardiac arrhythmia within the last 15 years.

Statens Serum Institut (SSI) is the National Center for prevention and control of infectious diseases and congenital disorders and a major public research institute. SSI houses 3 national and 7 international WHO Centres and advises nationally and internationally on vaccine programmes, combating of epidemics, diagnostic services and hospital hygiene.

Zealand Pharmaceuticals is a Danish biotech company founded in 1998 with the purpose of developing peptide-based drugs, which significantly improves existing therapy, in particular within the cardio-vascular area. Zealand has established a proprietary target platform based on gap junction related inter-cellular communication.

For further information please contact:

Eva Steiness,
President and CEO,
Zealand Pharma
Phone: +45 4328 1210
Email: est@zp.dk