# Chemokine-receptor profiling for painful diabetic neuropathy in biological samples from human clinical trials

> **NIH NIH R43** · PLUMERIA THERAPEUTICS, INC. · 2021 · $700,128

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
 Chronic pain is a major healthcare burden, representing economic costs of up to $635B per year, more
than cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, according to a Johns Hopkins study published in the Journal of Pain.
Pain is a highly heterogeneous condition comprising neuropathic, nociceptive and inflammatory components,
and patient responses to currently available drugs vary greatly.
 A very promising approach to target various forms of pain is through antagonism of key players in neuro-
inflammation. Specifically, the chemokine receptor system, a complex network of over 20 different receptors and
over 80 ligands, is integral to neuroinflammatory processes and the pharmaceutical industry had been very active
in developing compounds targeting individual receptors in the network. However, the biological complexity,
ligand promiscuity, and receptor redundancy of the chemokine receptor system has precluded successful clinical
development of the compounds and many pharma have exited the pain therapeutic area.
 A major limitation of successful targeting of this network is sufficient understanding of the molecular and
cellular dynamics of the chemokine network, and how specific receptors vary in chronic pain conditions. In this
study, we aim to determine the genetic expression of a chemokine receptor utilizing human clinical samples
collected in a clinical trial evaluating a receptor antagonist. Further, we will utilize this understanding in
conjunction with patient efficacy data from the clinical trials to continue the development of our lead compound,
a drug that showed a statistically significant clinical signal in pain. Results from this study will enable patient
stratification and effective clinical trial design by including patients with the appropriate genetic and phenotypic
background and thus significantly increase the likelihood achieving primary endpoints of pain reduction in the
clinic.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10326651
- **Project number:** 1R43NS120617-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** PLUMERIA THERAPEUTICS, INC.
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas P Richardson
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $700,128
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-20 → 2023-12-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10326651

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10326651, Chemokine-receptor profiling for painful diabetic neuropathy in biological samples from human clinical trials (1R43NS120617-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-14 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10326651. Licensed CC0.

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