DeCure's autonomous Respiratory AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for asthma — screening already-approved drugs against its 45-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleAsthma maps to a 45-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for asthma is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
sulfite oxidase (SUOX) — SUOX is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet hemdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 1MJ4 · 1.2 Å · ligand PROTOPORPHYRIN IX CONTAINING FE (HEM). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Severe asthma is not a single patient phenotype but a spectrum of poorly controlled disease with widely varying pathobiologic and clinical characteristics. In recent clinical trials, therapies guided by specific patient characteristics have had better outcomes than previous therapies directed to any subject with a diagnosis of severe asthma. However, significant gaps remain in understanding the full scope of the disease, hindering the development of effective treatments for all severe asthmatics. The new treatment goal is asthma remission: long-term absence of symptoms, absence of exacerbations, and stable lung function without systemic steroids. Three types of remission are distinguished: spontaneous, off treatment, and on treatment. This treat-to-target approach requires precise phenotyping including type 2 biomarker measurement.
A 1999 retrospective chart review in New York City evaluated a prehospital protocol in which emergency medical services personnel could administer 125 mg of intravenous methyl prednisolone to asthma patients following telephone consultation with a medical control physician. Of 219 patients who arrived by ambulance over two years, 11 received prehospital steroids. None of those 11 resulted in hospital admission, but due to the small sample size the difference in admission rates was not yet significant. No differences were detected in emergency department length of stay between the two patient groups (157 vs. 160 minutes in year 2, p = 0.9).
Unmet needs in adult asthma remain substantial. Undertreatment is common, especially in severe asthma, and some patients with severe asthma do not respond to any available treatments. Asthma is a heterogeneous disease with heterogeneity in response to treatment, and there are currently no means to determine which patients will be a responder or non-responder to a particular treatment. Clinical trials of potential new asthma treatments need to target the patient population more carefully according to the selected outcome measure, which should reflect the patient's perspective.
What is still missing is the ability to predict individual treatment response before therapy begins, adequate delivery of care to severe patients, and trial designs that stratify by specific patient characteristics rather than by diagnosis alone. The 1999 steroid protocol result is suggestive but underpowered, and no subsequent large-scale prehospital trial is reported in these abstracts.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2016 · 214 citations · open access
Current concepts of severe asthma
AbstractThe term asthma encompasses a disease spectrum with mild to very severe disease phenotypes whose traditional common characteristic is reversible airflow limitation. Unlike milder disease, severe asthma is poorly controlled by the current standard of care. Ongoing studies using advanced molecular and immunological tools along with improved clinical classification show that severe asthma does not identify a specific patient phenotype, but rather includes patients with constant medical needs, whose pathobiologic and clinical characteristics vary widely. Accordingly, in recent clinical trials, therapies guided by specific patient characteristics have had better outcomes than previous therapies directed to any subject with a diagnosis of severe asthma. However, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the full scope of this disease that hinder the development of effective treatments for all severe asthmatics. In this Review, we discuss our current state of knowledge regarding severe asthma, highlighting different molecular and immunological pathways that can be targeted for future therapeutic development.
Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2015 · 38 citations
Four-year follow-up in children with moderate/severe uncontrolled asthma after withdrawal of a 1-year omalizumab treatment
AbstractPURPOSE OF REVIEW: Allergic asthma, which is the most frequent asthma phenotype, is mainly a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by elevated serum IgE levels and specific-IgE against common allergens. A significant group of asthmatic children have uncontrolled moderate/severe symptoms despite the use of medium/high doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in combination with another controller. Asthma guidelines suggest omalizumab as an add-on therapy in these children and recent evidence has shown the efficacy and safety of this mAb against IgE. RECENT FINDINGS: Asthma cannot be cured and current available treatments are unable to modify the natural course of the disease. Recent studies have shown positive effects of omalizumab in reducing airway inflammation and remodelling. Herein, a 4-year follow-up of a group of children with moderate/severe uncontrolled asthma taking part in a randomized double blind placebo control with omalizumab is shown. After discontinuation of anti-IgE, children were followed up for 4 years. During the first 3 years of follow-up, they were completely free of asthma symptoms without any need of ICS or rescue medication. SUMMARY: The new evidence published and the clinical observation described herein generate the hypothesis that treatment with omalizumab could potentially modify the natural course of asthma. However, further studies are needed.
Annals of the American Thoracic Society · 2016 · 23 citations
Severe Asthma: Have we Made Progress?
AbstractTremendous efforts have been invested in research to (1) discover risk factors, biomarkers, and clinical characteristics; (2) understand the pathophysiology and treatment response variability in severe asthma; and (3) design new therapies. However, to combat severe asthma, many questions concerning the pathogenesis of severe asthma, including its natural history, genetic and environmental risk factors, and disease mechanisms, must be answered. In this article we highlight some of the major discoveries concerning the pathogenesis of severe asthma and its therapeutic development. We conclude that discoveries on numerous fronts of severe asthma, from disease heterogeneity, features of airway remodeling, cytokine mediators and signaling pathways underlying disease pathogenesis, disease mechanisms, potential biomarkers, to new therapeutic targets, demonstrate that progress has been made in understanding and developing more effective treatments for this difficult-to-treat disease.
Evaluation of a new ems asthma protocol in new york city: A preliminary report
AbstractBACKGROUND: In July 1996, the New York City (NYC) regional EMS implemented a new protocol whereby EMS personnel in the prehospital setting could administer 125 mg of intravenous methyl prednisolone to asthma patients as one of their medical options following telephone consultation with a medical control physician. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether this protocol had any effect on hospital admission rates or the emergency department (ED) length of stay. METHODS: This retrospective chart review focused on the 219 (of 603 total) patients who arrived to the ED by ambulance over a two-year period whose ED diagnosis was asthma. There were 81 patient encounters in year 1, and 138 in year 2. Eleven of the year 2 group received prehospital steroids. The study took place at an urban 911 receiving, Level 2 ED. RESULTS: Of the group who received prehospital steroids, none resulted in hospital admission. Due to the small sample size in the steroid-receiving group, the differences in these admission rates are not yet significant. No differences were detected in the ED length of stay between the two patient groups (157 vs. 160 minutes in year 2, p = 0.9). CONCLUSION: The differences in admission rates suggested by this study suggest a simple yet potentially powerful tool for improving patient outcome in the treatment of asthma.
Allergologie select · 2024 · 11 citations · open access
Asthma therapy concepts through the ages
AbstractThe development and approval of DMAADs ("disease-modifying anti-asthmatic drugs"), in particular inhaled steroids (alone or in combination with long-acting bronchodilators), biologics and modern allergen immunotherapies, has fundamentally changed the asthma therapy concept from symptom control to symptom prevention. This concept is linked to the new asthma treatment goal of asthma remission: long-term absence of symptoms (good asthma control), absence of exacerbations, and stable lung function, without the use of systemic steroids for asthma therapy. Three types of asthma remission are distinguished: spontaneous remission (e.g., childhood asthma), remission "off treatment" (e.g., after successful allergen immunotherapy), and remission "on treatment" (e.g., during inhaled therapy or biologic therapy). A treat-to-target approach is used, as in rheumatoid arthritis or chronic inflammatory bowel disease: The goal is to achieve asthma remission, through individually tailored treatment with highly effective drugs with minimal side effects. However, this requires precise phenotyping of the patient, including detailed history taking, pulmonary function diagnostics, allergological diagnostics, and measurement of type 2 biomarkers.
AbstractGuidelines have been developed to provide an objective framework for the effective management of asthma. They are based on a mix of sound clinical practice and evidence-based medicine. The aims of asthma management are to ensure that the patient is symptom free and living an unrestricted life with normal physical activity, lung function normalized as much as possible, using minimum therapy, that exacerbations are kept to a minimum and mortality is reduced or abolished. In practice, however, these aims are not being met. Thus, unmet needs exist in asthma and need to be addressed. One particular unmet need is poor delivery of asthma care. Undertreatment of asthma is common, especially in severe asthma. However, studies suggest that some patients with severe asthma do not respond to any available treatments. Many outcome measures have been used in asthma and different outcomes will ensue according to which outcome measure is chosen, which in turn depends on the population studied. Asthma is a heterogeneous disease and there is heterogeneity in the response to treatment. However, at present there are no means to determine which patients will be a responder or non-responder to a particular treatment. In clinical trials of potential new asthma treatment we need to target the patient population more carefully according to the selected outcome measure, which should reflect the patient's perspective.
AbstractIt is the purpose of this review to emphasize recent progress in the understanding and use of drugs for asthma. In fact, much of the recent progress has been in the area of increased understanding of the appropriate use of drugs which have been available for a number of years. Hence, this review will emphasize these new and developing concepts. The reader who wishes to obtain details an specific drugs should refer to earlier reviews [1–3].
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
