RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. has begun a collaboration with doctors at Children's National Medical Centre (CNMC), Division of Cardiology, in Washington, D.C., to study the effects of thymosin beta 4 (Tß4) to treat degenerative muscle diseases that often result in cardiomyopathy -- the progressive deterioration and weakness of the heart.

The project, directed by Dr. Christopher Spurney, Assistant Professor of Paediatrics at CNMC, will study the effects of Tß4 in non-human models that have a disease similar to human Duchenne muscular dystrophy and go on to develop cardiomyopathy.

"This is a very exciting study as it may relate to previously published work showing Tß4's ability to protect/repair the heart after an acute myocardial infarction. We look forward to testing it in our models to see if we can produce similar results," Dr. Spurney said adding, "If Tß4 is shown to be protective, we would hope to move into human clinical trials."

Cardiomyopathy can lead to arrhythmias, heart failure, and sudden death. For most patients with cardiomyopathy, transplantation of a new heart is the only viable treatment. In the US there are over 84,000 patients with degenerative muscular dystrophy diseases and about 50,000 patients with cardiomyopathy.

Tß4 is a naturally occurring peptide present in virtually all human cells. It is a first-in-class drug candidate that promotes endothelial cell differentiation, keratinocyte migration, collagen deposition, and down-regulates certain inflammatory cells.