DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for Peyronie disease — screening already-approved drugs against its 39-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease modulePeyronie disease maps to a 39-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 peyronie disease 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
protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type D (PTPRD) — PTPRD 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 flcdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 2YD6 · 1.35 Å · ligand CITRATE ANION (FLC). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
Collagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH) is approved in the United States for Peyronie disease after phase III trials showed efficacy. In those pivotal studies, 84.2% of treated patients reported some improvement, compared with 36.3% on placebo. The most serious adverse event, corporal rupture, occurred in 0.54% of CCH patients in the registration trials and all were managed surgically. Later reports indicate that 34% of urologists administering CCH have encountered a corporal rupture, and one series found a 4.9% rate of this complication, with 20% of those cases managed without surgery.
A single-provider prospective series of 49 patients is described as only the second published series cataloguing efficacy and safety outside the phase II and III data. A large Italian multicentre single-arm study of 220 patients is mentioned, but the abstract provided contains no results from that study — the text instead describes PD-L1 staining methods for penile squamous cell carcinoma, which is a different disease. That abstract is not usable for Peyronie disease outcomes.
A randomised trial comparing CCH plus traction and sildenafil against penile surgery (plication or incision and grafting) plus traction and sildenafil has reported preliminary three-month data on 17 of 40 randomised men. At three months, 100% of CCH men reported overall satisfaction versus 82% of surgery men, a difference that was not statistically significant (p=0.12). Curvature improved by a median of 21 degrees (41%) with CCH and 65 degrees (85%) with surgery (p<0.01). Penile length increased by 1.0 cm with CCH and decreased by 0.5 cm with surgery (p<0.01). More CCH men reported improved erectile function (75% vs 45%, p=0.16) and less impact on sensation (25% reported less sensation vs 55%, p=0.13). All CCH men and 80% of surgery men said they would choose the same treatment again (p<0.01). The trial is ongoing, with follow-up planned to 60 months.
What is still missing is longer-term comparative data from the randomised trial, which has not yet reported beyond three months. The cost of CCH is noted as expensive. No trial has yet identified which patient characteristics reliably predict a good response to CCH, and the predictive factor study mentioned did not provide usable results. Patient stratification by curvature severity, plaque characteristics, or disease phase remains unvalidated in prospective randomised settings.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Therapeutic Advances in Urology · 2018 · 15 citations · open access
Intralesional collagenase <i>Clostridium histolyticum</i> in the management of Peyronie’s disease: current best practice
Abstractcollagenase (CCH) has become increasingly widespread for the treatment of Peyronie's disease (PD) in recent years. Numerous trials have confirmed both its safety and efficacy in appropriately selected patients with this condition. The purpose of this review is to examine pivotal trials demonstrating the efficacy of CCH, revisit viable candidates for treatment with intralesional injection therapy, and provide a summary of injection technique and appropriate management of patients receiving this treatment at the time of therapy and in follow up.
Translational Andrology and Urology · 2017 · 5 citations · open access
Expanding the role of injectable collagenase clostridium histolyticum for the treatment of active phase Peyronie’s disease
AbstractCollagenase clostridium histolyticum (CCH) (Xiaflex TM ) has recently become the mainstay and gold standard of minimally invasive management of Peyronie’s disease. Approved by the FDA in 2013 after phase III studies demonstrated efficacy and safety, collagenase is a popular and promising, albeit expensive treatment option. With the exception of phase II and phase III study data, there is a dearth of published outcomes and safety data. At present, Yang and Bennett’s single-provider, prospectively collected series of 49 patients undergoing Xiaflex injections, is only the second published series cataloging efficacy and safety (1).
The Journal of Urology · 2018 · 0 citations · open access
MP84-15 PREDICTIVE FACTORS OF PATIENTS' AND PARTNERS' SEXUAL FUNCTION IMPROVEMENT AFTER CLOSTRIDIUM COLLAGENASE INJECTION FOR PEYRONIE'S DISEASE. ANALYSIS FROM THE LARGEST ITALIAN MULTICENTRE SINGLE-ARM STUDY.
AbstractMETHODS: Among 220 patients treated for penile SCC in Orebro, Sweden between 1984-2008, PD-L1 IHC staining was undertaken on three tumor cores per patient using two anti-PD-L1 rabbit monoclonal antibodies (SP142, Roche; 28-8, Abcam). Specific membranous and/or cytoplasmic staining was independently evaluated by two uro-pathologists (F.G and M.F) blinded to all clinical data. The percentage of PD-L1 staining in tumor cells and TIICs were evaluated separately. Immunostaining was scored using 3 categories of % positive cells: <5%; >5% to <50%; and >50%.
The Journal of Urology · 2018 · 0 citations · open access
PD44-07 PEYRONIE'S DISEASE: THE IMPACT OF COLLAGENASE CLOSTRIDIUM HISTOLYTICUM ON DIAGNOSIS, TREATMENT, AND COST
Abstractreported in 84.2% of patients, compared to 36.3% with placebo. The most concerning of these, corporal rupture, occurred in 0.54% of CCH patients (all treated operatively). Subsequent studies report that 34% of urologists administering CCH have encountered a corporal rupture and in one series 4.9% of patients treated with CCH developed the complication. In the later study, 20% of cases were managed nonoperatively. In this study, we use a national insurance claims database to evaluate rates of corporal rupture over time and relation to penile injections in PD patients.
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Approved indication: ChEMBL drug_indication (max_phase=4). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works, 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.
