NCOA7 Emerges as Drug Target Linking Pulmonary Hypertension to Brain Inflammation

By Bio-IT World Staff

November 10, 2026 | New research from the University of Pittsburgh points to nuclear receptor coactivator 7 (NCOA7) as both a therapeutic target and a biomarker in pulmonary hypertension. It could also matter in neurodegenerative and autoimmune disease, wherever inflammation is running unchecked.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, shows that a genetic variant in the NCOA7 gene drives both lung pathology and neuroinflammation. The result is measurable tissue loss in the cerebellum and frontal lobe. That pattern of brain abnormalities appeared across several pulmonary hypertension patient groups, including those with left-sided heart disease and chronic lung conditions. It did not appear in patients with other heart, lung or psychiatric diseases.

The work builds on a study of nearly 3,000 patients that Stephen Chan, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues published last year in Science. That study tied the disease to dysfunctional lysosomes and identified NCOA7 deficiency as the source of the inflammatory dysfunction.

There is a clear commercial opening. Every targeted therapy now used in pulmonary hypertension addresses pulmonary arterial hypertension, which accounts for only about 3% of patients worldwide. Chan, who directs Pitt’s Vascular Medicine Institute, founded Amlysion Therapeutics and serves as its chief scientific officer. The company plans to raise funds to develop next-generation drugs that activate NCOA7.

Amlysion is backed by the Harrington Discovery Institute, which gave Chan a Scholar-Innovator Award this year. The award includes a guaranteed $100,000 grant and a chance to compete for up to $300,000. It also carries potential mission-related investment of up to $2 million and drug development, regulatory and IP support. Chan and the University of Pittsburgh keep all IP rights.

Chan will also lead a longitudinal natural history study. It will track blood biomarkers, brain tissue loss and connectivity to find out which changes can be reversed. He also hints that upcoming papers will show the NCOA7 pathway reaching other organ systems.

Read the full story by Deborah Borfitz at Diagnostics World News.