Feb 3, 2022

Wim Souverijns is the Chief Community Engagement and Commercial Officer at Pharvaris and is focusing on HAE or hereditary angioedema a rare disease that impacts the cells as recurrent angioedema or swelling episodes. These patients go through unpredictable swellings in their body at the extremities, in the abdomen, and in the facial area. 

Wim explains, "The cause of HAE is a deficiency or dysfunction in a particular enzyme called the C1-inhibitor, and there are tools to detect this deficiency or dysfunction. The levels of C1 inhibitor are measured and, based on these levels, patients with this condition are identified. That deficiency leads to a cascade of biochemical events, whereby the ultimate culprit for these swellings is a molecule called bradykinin. Bradykinin will connect to a receptor called a B2-receptor, and by doing that, it will signal to the cell that it should vasodilate - the cell basically opens its pores - meaning fluid is being taken up into the cell, into the tissue, leading to the swelling." 

"The last approach addresses the penultimate event in the cascade by preventing the actual bradykinin in the plasma to connect to the B2-receptor. This is where Pharvaris is focused. We're trying to avoid bradykinin from activating the receptor, thereby avoiding swelling in the tissue. So, there are three different categories, and we are focusing on really on that bottom one, the bradykinin, because our therapy competes for the receptor."

#Pharvaris #HAE #HereditaryAngioedema #Bradykinin #RareDisease

Pharvaris.com

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