Tag: rheumatoid arthritis

Company News: InDex Pharmaceuticals Granted Japanese Patent for Novel Treatment of Steroid-Resistant Inflammation

InDex Pharmaceuticals today announced that it has been granted a Japanese patent by the Japan Patent Office (JPO). The patent provides protection for the use of Kappaproct® and other DNA-based immunomodulatory sequences (DIMS) for the treatment of steroid-resistant inflammatory diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, emphysema, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The patent, entitled “Immunostimulatory Method” covers the use of a broad range of oligonucleotides for the treatment of steroid resistance in patients afflicted with inflammatory conditions. It provides an exclusivity period until at least 2026, with the possibility of up to 5 years of patent term extension after market approval. InDex Pharmaceuticals already holds patent protection for Kappaproct for the treatment of steroid-resistant inflammatory diseases in both Europe and the US.

InDex Pharmaceuticals develops DIMS compounds – synthetic oligonucleotides that function as immunomodulatory agents by targeting the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). The company’s most advanced DIMS product candidate, Kappaproct, is currently in a phase III study in Europe for the treatment of chronic, active, treatment-refractory ulcerative colitis.

Company News: InDex Pharmaceuticals Granted US Patent for Novel Treatment of Steroid-Resistant Inflammation

InDex Pharmaceuticals today announced that it has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent provides additional protection for the use of Kappaproct® and additional DNA-based immunomodulatory sequences (DIMS) for the treatment of  steroid-resistant inflammatory diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, asthma, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The patent, entitled “Method for Modulating Responsiveness to Steroids” covers a method for enhancing steroid efficacy in steroid-refractory patients afflicted with an inflammatory condition using oligonucleotides with a specific common core sequence. It provides an exclusivity period until June 2027 with the possibility of a 3 to 5-year term extension after market approval. A corresponding European patent was granted in August 2009.

InDex Pharmaceuticals develops DIMS compounds that are synthetic oligonucleotides that function as immunomodulatory agents by targeting the Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). The company’s most advanced DIMS product candidate, Kappaproct, is currently in a phase III study in Europe for the treatment of chronic, active, treatment-refractory ulcerative colitis.

Company News: Scil Technology Receives Public Research Grant for Novel Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatments

Scil Technology GmbH, a biopharmaceutical company with core expertise in protein drug development, formulation and analytics, today announced that it has been awarded research funding by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under BMBF’s KMU-innovativ scheme. The EUR 0.9 million grant supports Scil Technology’s research program to explore the therapeutic potential of repellent proteins for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The course of RA is affected by the destruction of cartilage tissue and inflammation of the joints. Recently, it has been published that so-called repellent proteins inhibit fundamental processes relevant for the development of the disease. Repellent proteins therefore bear the potential to provide the first causative treatment of RA.

Company News: SuppreMol Obtains Option to In-License Antibody Against Interleukin 3 for Rheumatoid Arthritis

SuppreMol GmbH, a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, today announced that it has closed an agreement to in-license an antibody directed against interleukin 3 (IL-3), which has been developed by the Molecular Immunology research group led by Prof. Dr. Matthias Mack at the University of Regensburg.

IL-3, a growth factor primarily produced by activated T cells, stimulates growth and differentiation of monocytes, basophils and other leukocyte populations from the bone marrow in an immune response. Recently, the team of Prof. Mack was able to demonstrate that IL-3 plays an important role in the onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune disease characterized by a chronic inflammation of the joints and other organs affecting up to one percent of the population in the industrialized world. The disease commonly leads to significant disability and reduction in the quality of life and is connected with significant costs for patients and the health care systems.

Therapy with an antibody-based IL-3 inhibitor, either in early stages or during flares and exacerbations, may provide a new class of treatment for patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Further details can be found here.

 

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