Tag: preclinical data
Company News: Merus Presents Preclinical Data on its Novel Bispecific Antibody MCLA-117 at EHA 2013
– Clinical Candidate Designed for the Treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) –
Merus B.V., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on innovative human antibody therapeutics, has presented preclinical data on its antibody MCLA-117 at the Annual 18th Congress of the EHA 2013 (European Hematology Association) in Stockholm. The compound is being developed for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a disease with very poor long-term prognosis.
MCLA-117 activates the patient’s own immune system by simultaneously binding to the CLEC12A molecule expressed by AML tumor cells and the CD3 molecule expressed by T cells. CLEC12A is a myeloid differentiation antigen that is expressed on 90-95% of de novo and relapsed AML cases and is selectively expressed on leukemic stem cells.
Co-incubation of patients´ resting T cells and AML tumor cells via MCLA-117 resulted in efficient tumor cell lysis, i.e. the potent killing of cancerous AML cells. By introducing mutations in the heavy chain constant region CH2 domain, Merus was able to develop an antibody that in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) assays prevented the release of non-specific, pro-inflammatory cytokines, while retaining its full capacity to induce T cell-mediated elimination of AML tumor cells.
The MCLA-117 antibody is based on Merus’ proprietary Biclonics™ ENGAGE platform. Human bispecific antibodies from this platform can be manufactured and administered like conventional, full-length IgG molecules, thereby providing for high yield, good stability and a long serum half-life.
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)