Tag: desensitization
Company News: Anergis Granted U.S. Patent for Ragweed Allergy Vaccine AllerR
– Anergis receives notice of allowance from U.S. Patent Office for patent on ultra-fast treatment for ragweed allergies
Anergis, a company developing proprietary ultra-fast allergy vaccines, today announced that it received a notice of allowance from the U.S. patent authorities for its patent covering composition and methods of use of its ragweed allergy product AllerR. AllerR is based on Anergis´ unique Contiguous Overlapping Peptide (COP) platform. COPs are pharmaceutical-grade, long-peptide immunotherapeutics designed for an ultra-fast, safe and long-lasting treatment of allergy patients.
Ragweed pollen is believed to be the most allergenic of all pollens. Allergies to ragweed pollen are mostly prevalent in the USA, where they affect an estimated 27 million patients, with a high degree of severity in many of them. Among others, ragweed allergies are a major cause of asthma. Fifty percent (50%) of allergic patients in the United States are sensitized to ragweed.
Company News: Anergis Presents Preclinical Data of its Ragweed Allergy Vaccine Candidate AllerR
– AllerR induces formation of antibodies recognizing natural ragweed allergens –
Anergis, a company developing breakthrough allergy vaccines for fast and safe allergen-specific immunotherapy, reported today that it will present preclinical data for its ragweed allergy vaccine at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) in San Antonio, TX.*
The results demonstrate the hypoallergenicity of AllerR and the successful recognition of the natural ragweed allergen Amb a 1 by the mouse immune system after immunization with AllerR.
The poster no. 136 will be presented on Saturday, February 23, 2013, at 9:45am CST in session no. 2210 “Immunotherapy I” at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Street Level, Exhibit Hall C. The abstract of the poster titled “Non-Detectable IgE Binding of an Amb a 1 Derived, Contiguous Overlapping Peptide Based, SIT Product Candidate Against Ragweed Allergy” is available at:
http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0091-6749/PIIS0091674912028163.pdf
AllerR is a mix of seven Contiguous Overlapping Peptides (COPs) derived from the COP platform of Anergis. In the experiments, AllerR showed no detectable IgE binding in competition ELISA tests using sera from allergic patients and did not induce degranulation of humanized basophil cells, a standard test used to test the ability of a protein or peptide to elicit an allergic reaction in humans. In addition, mice sensitized to the natural allergen Amb a 1 showed no reactivity to AllerR, whereas the administration of Amb a 1 in these animals lead to anaphylactic responses. The immunogenicity of AllerR was also tested in naïve mice and showed that each COP composing AllerR elicited an antibody response and that these antibodies specifically recognized the natural Amb a 1 allergen.
In the U.S., ragweed pollen allergy is the major cause of hay fever: 75% of all patients suffering from pollen allergies carry a ragweed pollen allergy. It affects about 20% of the U.S. population and is also on the rise in Europe due to the spread of ragweed (Ambrosia genus) plants accidentally introduced to Europe. The major allergenic protein has been identified as Amb a 1, a 38 kDa non-glycosylated protein composed of two subunits.
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* The poster entitled “Non-Detectable IgE Binding of an Amb a 1 Derived, Contiguous Overlapping Peptide Based, SIT Product Candidate Against Ragweed Allergy” is also being published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology – February 2013 (Vol. 131, Issue 2, Supplement, Page AB37, DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2012.12.815)
Company News: Anergis Expands Management Team
– Company Appoints Gilles Della Corte as Director of Clinical Development and Eva Castagnetti as Director of Product Development –
Anergis, a company developing breakthrough allergy vaccines for fast and safe allergen-specific immunotherapy, today announced the expansion of its management team. With the appointments of Gilles Della Corte as Director of Clinical Development and Eva Castagnetti as Director of Product Development, the company has significantly strengthened its late-stage drug development expertise.
Gilles Della Corte, MD, brings to Anergis extensive expertise in global clinical development. In the past 22 years, he worked both for pharmaceutical companies, including Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Servier, Solvay Pharma, Serono and Merck Serono, and for CROs where he held various senior positions in Research and Development. He has significant experience with all stages and aspects of clinical drug development ranging from Phase I to Phase IV. A cardiologist and pharmacologist by training, Gilles also holds diplomas in statistics and clinical trial methodology.
Eva Castagnetti, PhD, has several years of experience in both technical and business management functions in the biopharmaceutical industry with Lonza, Senn Chemicals and Rapid Pharmaceuticals. She has been responsible for the development and production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (peptides) in early to late clinical phases, gaining comprehensive experience of the regulatory and quality requirements in the development of new pharmaceutical products. Eva obtained her PhD in organic chemistry in 2001 from the University of Lausanne/EPFL and spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge/Boston) and at the ETH Zurich.
Company News: Anergis Obtains U.S. Patent for Lead Product AllerT
Anergis, a company developing breakthrough allergy vaccines for fast and safe allergen-specific immunotherapy, has been granted patent protection for its AllerT birch pollen allergy treatment in the U.S.
The patent No. 8,343,503 granted by the U.S. Patent Office broadly covers composition of matter and medical use of AllerT, the lead product of Anergis. AllerT is composed of a set of three contiguous overlapping peptides (COPs) derived from the allergen Bet v 1, which plays a key role in inducing birch pollen allergy.
AllerT is currently evaluated in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase IIb trial enrolling about 300 patients with moderate to severe birch pollen allergy in up to 30 trial centers throughout Europe. Results are expected in Q3, 2013. In an earlier Phase I/IIa trial, a 2-month treatment with AllerT was well tolerated by patients with moderate to severe allergy to birch pollen. In these patients, AllerT elicited long-lasting immunological responses, evidenced by significantly elevated allergen-specific IgG4 antibody levels four years after completion of the 2-month treatment with AllerT.