RJV001 Study in Adults Receiving Abdominoplasty

The therapies directed against adipocytes represent a novel therapeutical approach for improving the appearance of double chin. Furthermore, these treatments would optimally work by novel mechanisms so that the enhanced adverse effects at injection sites will not limit their use. Our studies suggest that RJV001 may fulfill these requirements. Adipocytes are attached to an extracellular matrix (ECM) that mainly consists of a collagen network, the degradation of which may induce apoptosis of adipocytes, leading to the improvement of the double chin's appearance. Collagenases are enzymes that break the peptide bonds in collagen; collagenase-induced destruction of the collagen network may lead to improvement in the appearance of the double chin. Rejuven is currently developing RJV001 for improving the appearance of moderate to severe convexity or fullness-associated SMF in adults. RJV001 is a mutant recombinant collagenase of Clostridium histolyticum, which contains one amino acid difference. This amino acid is in the active center and preclinical studies showed that Kcat of RJV001 was significantly lower than that of the wild type enzyme, but Km of RJV001 was close to that of the wild type. Preclinical studies conducted by Rejuven also demonstrated that RJV001 can still effectively induce lipolysis of fat tissue and that the decreased bioactivity may have the benefit of decreased adverse effects.