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It’s a discovery that has been more than ten years in the making: the use of a human protein to potentially treat patients with sepsis.

Lawson Scientist Dr. Qingping Feng noticed that a human protein called annexin A5 showed positive results with sepsis back in 2007. 

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Fast forward 14 years later to now, and this discovery could very well be the first ever viable treatment for sepsis patients, including severe COVID-19 patients who develop sepsis. “With COVID initially, it is in the airway and then in the lungs, then from there the inflammatory response in fact spreads to the whole body,” says Dr. Feng, Ivey Chair in Molecular Technology at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.  “Sepsis causes major organ dysfunction and carries a high mortality unfortunately.”

It has become a challenging issue for Intensive Care Physician at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), Dr. Claudio Martin, who can only do so much to treat severe COVID-19 patients that develop sepsis.

“What we have seen is a very primary severe respiratory failure to the lungs for severe COVID patients,” says Dr. Martin, Associate Scientist at Lawson. “We have used steroids and other treatments to try to help, but the results and effects aren’t dramatic and we see patients who have these treatments and still progress and end up in the ICU.”

However, Dr. Feng and his team has found in a pre-clinical study, that annexin A5 can inhibit inflammation, improve organ function, and survival when treating sepsis.

Another potentially deadly situation for COVID-19 patients is cell death and blood clots, specifically near the lungs.  The good news is that the research team also believes the annexin A5 drug will prevent these complications through the drugs anti-apoptotic (cell death prevention) and anti-coagulant (blood clot prevention) properties.

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Supported by provincial funding through Ontario's COVID-19 Rapid Research Fund, the research team has launched a clinical trial with critically ill COVID-19 patients at LHSC, using a manufactured form of annexin A5. The goal is to enroll a total of 60 patients for the clinical trial, and enrollment has already begun. “Patients are receiving standard treatment and then those enrolled will also receive the annexin,” says Dr. Martin. “It’s a placebo blinded clinical trial, so patients will either get a lower dose of annexin, a higher dose of annexin, or a placebo.”

If the clinical trial shows promising results, Dr. Feng says the team plans on expanding into a larger phase three trial with not just COVID-19 patients with sepsis, but other sepsis patients as well. “If in fact annexin A5 is shown to be effective in sepsis, then this will be a huge benefit for society because sepsis is the leading cause of death worldwide.”

The drug is currently being produced through a partnership with Suzhou Yabao Pharmaceutical R&D Co., Ltd., based in China, Lawson Health Research Institute, and WorldDiscoveries.  “Our long-standing partnership with Suzhou Yabao has enabled annexin A5 drug development to proceed to this point,” says Kirk Brown, Manager of Business Development, Lawson Health Research Institute. “We are now in a unique position through this trial to offer a potential life-saving treatment for this emergent global disease, with the objective of soon expanding to all cause septic patients.”

St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s 2016-2017 Annual Report features stories of care, recovery, discovery, teaching and resiliency – of care teams, patients, residents, and their families.

Included in the 2016-2017 Annual Report are the following research stories:

• New imaging research chairs make history: In a historical-first, St. Joseph’s Health Care Foundation and Western University announced two research chairs to advance imaging research at Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute. The research chairs have been named after the two scientists who are revolutionizing health care through their groundbreaking imaging research – Drs. Ting-Yim Lee and Frank Prato.
• A world-first approach to dementia: Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute are the first in the world conducting a clinical trial to test a triple intervention aimed at treating mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and delaying the onset of dementia. The Mobility, Exercise and Cognition (MEC) team will be incorporating physical exercises, cognitive training and vitamin D supplementation to determine the best treatment for improving mobility and cognition.
• First clinical guidelines in Canada for pain following spinal cord injury: Researchers at Lawson Health Research Institute are the first in Canada to develop clinical practice guidelines that address the unique challenges for managing pain during recovery and rehabilitation from spinal cord injury.
• CAHO HWS field trip to Lawson: The Council of Academic Hospitals of Ontario (CAHO) toured the labs of Lawson Health Research Institute to encourage stable investment in hospital-based research and showcase the groundbreaking work underway at St. Joseph’s and London Health Sciences Centre.
• iSee Vision Screening Research Program: iSee, an innovative vision screening research program of St. Joseph’s Ivey Eye Institute is catching problems early for children ages 18 months to five years. The screening, which takes only seconds, detects amblyopia (lazy eye) and other eye conditions that can cause poor vision

St. Joseph’s Health Care London’s 2017-2018 Annual Report features stories about patients and residents, and their journey of care and recovery.

The following research is highlighted in the 2017-2018 Annual Report:

• Smart tech, smart treatment: Many mobile applications are on the market to help people struggling with mental health issues, but these aren’t necessarily created or used by health care providers. Creating an entire smart mental health system is one of the strategic priorities of St. Joseph’s and Lawson’s Mental Health Research Group led by Dr. Cheryl Forchuk, Beryl and Richard Ivey Research Chair in Aging, Mental Health, Rehabilitation and Recovery. Numerous projects have been identified as components of a plan spanning seven years.
• Walking while talking a possible early predictor of dementia: In a new study, researchers at Lawson and Western University are demonstrating that gait, or motion testing, while simultaneously performing a cognitively demanding task can effectively predict the progression to dementia and eventually help with earlier diagnosis. To date, there is no definitive way for health care professionals to forecast the onset of dementia in a patient with memory complaints.