Brendan – A PSC patient, a doctor, and a PSC researcher

Dr. Brendan Byrne: Reflections on being a PSC patient, a doctor, and a PSC researcher

July 1, 2022

Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?  

I’m 57 years old, a father of three and happily married to my lovely wife Noral for 25 years. I have been a lifelong runner and enjoy the outdoors here in British Columbia, Canada. For the past 30 years, I have been a family doctor while having a parallel career as an innovator and entrepreneur. Through my lifestyle medicine clinic (which opened five years ago), my deep passion is to use the latest science to help people change their behaviours and optimize their health. 

In 2020, I was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) after experiencing some pain that I thought was from gallstones. I am fortunate that my disease is in the relatively early stages, despite likely being present for at least 15 years. My hope is that it is progressing very slowly. My heart goes out to those whose disease is rapidly progressive.  

Can you please tell us a bit about your company? 

During my research, to make sense of my diagnosis, I turned to my network. A conversation with Dr. Pieter Cullis (a University of British Columbia professor) sparked the realization of the potential that the same technology used in the COVID vaccines could work in PSC.  

Lipid Nanoparticles (LNP) technology can be used to target the cells affected by PSC and potentially turn up or turn down key proteins. The goal is to stop the fibrosis that develops in PSC. Pieter and I have co-founded a company along with Dr. Alnoor Ramji and Paul Drohan, daedalus BIOTECH (daedalus.bio).  

Our mission is to bring a new therapeutic to market for PSC. One of our early observations was that many clinical trials in PSC fail because of the variability of disease stage. We realized that we need better tests to understand disease progression so that we can initiate treatment at the right time and know when it is working. Daedalus will be starting a study to try and develop better diagnostic and staging tests. We will soon be recruiting patients for this study.

What is this proposed Lipid Nanoparticles (LNP) technology about? 

The simplest way to understand LNP’s is to think of them as the envelope for the message that you are sending. They are very small and can be injected into your body through a simple intramuscular injection. One of the most exciting breakthroughs in medicine has been the use of the LNP delivery system to develop the successful COVID-19 vaccines. Here the LNP contains a genetic message (RNA) that the liver turns into a protein, that in turn prompts an immune response. The cutting edge of LNP science allows us to target specific cells and send genetic messages that increase or decrease the expression of specific proteins. For PSC, our company is working with research groups around the world to identify targets in PSC.

What would you tell others who are living with PSC? 

We only have today to enjoy. For all of us the future is uncertain (whether we have PSC or not). Being diagnosed with PSC has made this very real for me, and I am deeply appreciative of all that I have in my life. For others with PSC, it is important to recognize that we only control some of the cards we are dealt in life. 

Through my background in lifestyle medicine, I do believe that eating well, exercising, getting enough sleep and managing stress is vital to staying healthy. These behaviours will not cure our PSC, but we will be healthier, longer. Reflect on and cherish what you have. 

This interview with Dr. Byrne was conducted by Kristian Stephens, a volunteer writer for PSC Partners Canada.