A $12 million gift from the Zarpet Family Foundation will fuel polycystic kidney disease (PKD) research at the University of Colorado Anschutz PKD Center within the CU Anschutz School of Medicine’s Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension.
“This gift will allow us to expand our research, clinical, and educational mission in PKD,” says PKD center director Michel Chonchol, MD, professor of renal diseases and hypertension. “We want to develop new imaging biomarkers, launch phase II studies with potential new compounds, and look into repurposing drugs that have been approved by the FDA that potentially could work to halt PKD progression.”
Looking for new treatments
PKD is a genetic disease that causes progressive decline in kidney function. It is the fourth most common cause of end-stage kidney disease, meaning patients need either chronic dialysis or a kidney transplant. There is one FDA-approved drug to treat the disease — Jynarque (tolvaptan) — but treatment often primarily involves managing comorbidities such as hypertension, urinary tract infections, and chronic lower back pain due to enlarged kidneys.
The Zarpet Family Foundation PKD funds will create a thorough, enduring structure of support for all facets of research and clinical management of this condition. The gift will spark innovative pilot programs, enhance operational capacity, ensure recruitment of top talent, expand data collection to strengthen applications for external funding, and drive consistent improvements across the continuum of care.
“One promising direction that we have identified is a metabolic reprogramming for PKD patients,” Chonchol says. “These patients tend to have a higher prevalence of obesity, and we have done a lot of work on dietary interventions, caloric restrictions, and weight loss to halt the progression of the disease.”
PKD researchers at CU Anschutz are also looking at new metabolic medications such as metformin, SGLT2 inhibitors, and GLP-1 agonists to see if they have any role in delaying PKD progression.
“In a lot of the initial studies where these medications were tested, PKD patients were excluded,” Chonchol says. “There may be opportunities to repurpose some of these drugs for this condition.”
Expanding clinical trials
The Zarpet funds will also aim to increase access to care and promote integrated, multidisciplinary collaborations across departments and medical sub-specialties essential to comprehensive PKD management.
“It's going to allow us to be competitive in getting investigators who are interested in polycystic kidney disease, both in basic science and clinical research,” Chonchol says. “It also will allow us to create a clinical trials network of PKD centers. Because PKD is a rare disease, it can be difficult to recruit patients into clinical studies. Creating a network where we can launch clinical trials rapidly and in an expedited fashion, and test new drugs as they come available, is a top priority.”
National reputation
Eventually, Chonchol hopes to make CU Anschutz a national referral center for kidney transplantation in PKD.
“There is a lot of interest among patients to remove both kidneys at the time of transplant, because patients may feel better,” he says. “We also want to mentor the new generation of investigators and clinicians who will treat these patients in the future.”
Chonchol, who worked with Elizabeth Hepworth from the CU Anschutz Office of Advancement to manage the donation, expresses his gratitude for the funds that could lead to lifesaving new treatments for PKD patients.
“I cannot express in words how grateful we are,” he says. “And this is not the first gift they have given us. All the discoveries we have made so far, and the way that we are recognized nationally, is all thanks to the Zarpet Family Foundation.”
.png)
