Model‐Based Analysis Reveals a Sustained and Dose‐Dependent Acceleration of Wound Healing by VEGF‐A mRNA (AZD8601)

Abstract

Intradermal delivery of AZD8601, an mRNA designed to produce vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), has previously been shown to accelerate cutaneous wound healing in a murine diabetic model. Here, we develop population pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic models aiming to quantify the effect of AZD8601 injections on the dynamics of wound healing. A dataset of 584 open wound area measurements from 131 mice was integrated from 3 independent studies encompassing different doses, dosing timepoints, and number of doses. Evaluation of several candidate models showed that wound healing acceleration is not likely driven directly by time-dependent VEGF-A concentration. Instead, we found that administration of AZD8601 induced a sustained acceleration of wound healing depending on the accumulated dose, with a dose producing 50% of the maximal effect of 92 mu g. Simulations with this model showed that a single dose of 200 mu g AZD8601 can reduce the time to reach 50% wound healing by up to 5 days.Funding Agencies|Integrated Cardiometabolic Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Research and Early Development, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM), BioPharmaceuticals R&amp;D, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden</p