Bharath Kumar V.։ Advancing Safer Anticoagulation for Cancer-Associated Thrombosis
Bharath Kumar V., Postdoctoral Researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University, shared Umesh Desai’s post on LinkedIn:
”Congratulations, Desai, and the entire team on this important achievement!
This comprehensive work represents an exciting advancement in the development of safer and more selective anticoagulants, particularly for cancer-associated thrombosis.
Grateful to have contributed to this outstanding collaborative effort.”
Umesh Desai, Alfred and Frances Burger Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article he and his colleagues co-authored, published in Blood Advances, adding:
”Highly promising small molecule, allosteric inhibitor of thrombosis, especially cancer-associated venous thrombosis
Our comprehensive work on designing, developing and derisking a small molecule as a highly potent (6 mg/kg) inhibitor SB-01 of thrombosis in mice by targeting factor XIa has just been published in Blood Advances.
In this work, we describe the 8-step synthesis, allosteric mechanism of action, identification of site of binding, in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo antithrombotic activity, toxicological safety (bleeding, body weigth/mobility, metabolic (CYPs), cardiac (hERG), hematological (blood count), etc), and ex vivo reversibility in one paper!
Have to thank my team of 15 dedicated scientists for their patience and preseverance for this massive piece of work.
Through this work, we also make a more fundamental and crucial point that non-saccharide synthetic mimetics of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), that we refer to as NSGMs, can indeed yield drug-like molecules with excellent potency, selectivity and safety window, despite the commonly held belief by medicinal chemists that drugs have to be small and hydrophobic.
Once again, thanks to my major collaborators including Dhanesha (Louisiana State University – Shreveport), Erika Martin (VCU School of Medicine), Masahiro Sakagami (VCU School of Pharmacy), Bhaumik Patel (Richmond Veterans Affairs Medical Center), Sridhar Iyer (India) and their lab/group students/scientists.
It would not be possible to develop such a molecule without this team!”
Title: A Synthetic, Small Molecule, Allosteric Inhibitor of Human Factor XIa for Thrombosis
Authors: Chiranjeev Sharma, Rama Gunta, Sridhar R Iyer, Rawan M Fayyad, Elsamani Abdelfadiel, Andrew K Hadsdy, Erika Martin, Priyanka Mishra, Bharath Kumar Villuri, Nilesh Pandey, Daniel K Afosah, Nehru Viji Sankaranarayanan, Bhaumik B Patel, Masahiro Sakagami, Nirav Dhanesha, Umesh R Desai

Stay updated on all scientific advances with Hemostasis Today.
-
Sep 22, 2026, 19:02Blocking Histone-Induced Platelet-Erythrocyte Interactions With Polyanions – Platelets Journal
-
Sep 22, 2026, 18:49Abdul Rahman Hamad: Early Action for Better Outcomes in Deep Vein Thrombosis
-
Sep 22, 2026, 18:37Carmine Siniscalchi: Age-Adjusted D-Dimer Cutoffs in DVT Diagnosis
-
Sep 22, 2026, 18:37Stefano Romeo: The Cardiovascular Patient Journey is Still Full of Gaps
-
Sep 22, 2026, 18:10Fatima Zahra: ASH Released New Guidelines on the Diagnosis of Iron Deficiency
-
Sep 22, 2026, 17:49Nirav Dhanesha: Targeting FXI for Safer Anticoagulation
-
Sep 22, 2026, 17:17Eric Lambert: Intravascular Imaging and the Future of Precision PCI
-
Sep 22, 2026, 16:45Claudiu Stoicescu: Are We Starting Cardiovascular Risk Assessment Too Late?
-
Sep 22, 2026, 16:35Complement – Coagulation Crosstalk in Thrombosis