Revel Pharmaceuticals

Born out of research at the Spiegel lab at Yale University, Revel Pharmaceuticals are developing therapies to address the stiffening of blood vessels and other tissues caused by crosslinks.

The long-lived collagen proteins that give structure to our arteries, skin, and other tissues are constantly exposed to blood sugar and other reactive molecules as they travel through the bloodstream. These sugar molecules can sometimes bind to collagen and form toxic crosslinks that alter the physical properties of tissues and cause inflammation. This leads to the gradual stiffening of tissues, in particular blood vessels, which leads to increasing systolic blood pressure, skin aging, organ damage, and an increased risk of stroke.

The most common of these crosslinks is the Advanced Glycation End-products (AGE) known as glucosepane. Our body lacks the ability to remove these crosslinks from the body and so Revel are developing antibodies that aim to cleave these crosslinks from tissue and restore healthy function and elasticity.