Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. : Hisun Research Funding Program

To accelerate the discovery of new medicines and advance pharmaceutical sciences and improve patient care, we announce regularly partnering programs focusing on high-quality research that will be designed, implemented and sponsored by external investigators. This program is open to all academic and public organisations who are interested in employing their resources to conduct high-quality research within the specific areas of science we are interested in exploring. Results will be generated and properly disseminated in peer-reviewed publications, upon being approved by Hisun.

This program is supervised by committees of medical and scientific staff who are specialized in different research areas. Submission of a proposal does not imply or guarantee approval. All the investigator study proposals will be regularly reviewed by Hisun research committees, based on research merit criteria. Information related to current programs can be found by clicking on the link below.

Overview

Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1) protein is essential for intestinal cholesterol absorption. It is highly expressed on the brush border membrane of the small intestine across on the canalicular surface of hepatocytes in liver. It is well established that NPC1L1 is the molecular target of a cholesterol absorption inhibitor ezetimibe. HS-25 is one of our own developed new medicines with cholesterol-lowering activity. Our preliminary studies suggest it may target intestinal cholesterol absorption. We are interested in studies aimed to explore the mechanisms of its action, including 1) if HS-25 inhibits NPC1L1-mediated cholesterol uptake at cellular level; 2) if HS-25 inhibits intestinal absorption of lipid components (cholesterol, triglyceride, fatty acid, bile acid and vitamin A/D), and promotes fecal excretion of these components in animals (mouse, hamster or rat); 3) if HS-25 inhibits NPC1L1-dependent cholesterol uptake by using genetically engineered mice such as NPC1L1 knockout mice and tissue-specific NPC1L1 transgenic mice; and 4) whether HS-25 interacts directly with NPC1L1 protein.

The proposal will focus on the mechanisms of action of HS-25 at molecular, cellular and animal levels. The key criteria any proposal will be assessed against are: 

• Significance of the hypothesis judged against the outlined research objectives.
• Feasibility that the proposed protocols can be successfully tested with the proposed research plan.
• The ability of the principal investigator, collaborators, employees, and institution to successfully test the proposed hypothesis.
• Priority will be given to the investigator (s) who hold MD and PhD degrees and have an excellent publication record in lipid metabolism study. He or she should have an established, well-funded independent research program that has significant overlap with ongoing-research in lipid metabolism, and be able to leverage collaborative interactions with Hisun scientific team and others.

Critical Activities and Timelines: