SANSHO Co., Ltd.

In recent years, the relationship between lipid metabolites and diseases (Lipidology) has been rapidly developing due to the dramatic advances in mass spectrometry and genetic research. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), one of lysolipids, has also attracted attention for its involvement in cancer cell migration and fibrosis through the discovery of specific receptors (LPA1-6). Cyclic phosphatidic acid (cPA), which is produced at the same time as LPA and cyclized at the polar end of LPA, has been reported to inhibit cancer cell invasion, analgesia, arthritis relief, and neuronal cell death. We found a derivative of cPA, 2-carba-cPA (2ccPA), and it was stable and highly active. 2ccPA is currently in Phase-II clinical trials overseas for knee osteoarthritis, and a clinical trial for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is planned to begin within 2025.