08:14 AM EDT, 04/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Arch Biopartners Inc. ( ACHFF ) on Tuesday said a research team from St. Michael's Hospital, a site of Unity Health Toronto, has joined the Phase II trial for LSALT peptide targeting the prevention and treatment of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CS-AKI). LSALT peptide is Arch's lead candidate for preventing and treating inflammation injury in the kidneys, lungs and liver.

"Organ injury and repair is a Unity Health Toronto Research Pillar, and we are committed to investigating key mechanisms underlying tissue injury and healing, and to developing therapies to reduce injury and enhance regeneration," said Dr. David Mazer at St. Michael's Hospital in a statement.

Tuesday's statement noted the St. Michael's Hospital clinical team is awaiting ethics approval prior to trial enrolment. It said the addition of St. Michael's as the third Canadian clinical site increases the number of trial sites to nine, with six hospitals in Turkey currently recruiting patients, the statement noted.

The CS-AKI Phase II trial is an international study of LSALT peptide. The recruitment target for the trial is 240 patients. The main objective of the trial is to evaluate the percentage of subjects with AKI within seven days following on-pump (heart-lung machine) cardiac surgery.