Promising pre-clinical data in Cystic Fibrosis for ProtAffin AG's PA401 to be presented at ATS, Philadelphia, 17-22 May 2013
Graz, Austria and London, UK- 20th February 2013: ProtAffin AG, a biotechnology company developing a novel class of next-generation biopharmaceuticals for inflammation, respiratory disease and oncology, today announced that a collaboration with a leading European centre for the study of cystic fibrosis has generated promising pre-clinical results for the company's lead anti-inflammatory product, PA401.
A collaboration with scientists at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), Dublin, has shown that exposure of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with cystic fibrosis to increasing concentrations of PA401 significantly reduced the level of detectable IL-8 in that fluid. These results will be presented at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference in Philadelphia this May. Professor McElvaney, Director of the Respiratory Research Laboratory, RCSI, commented: "Clinical application of an IL-8 decoy such as PA401 could lessen the inflammatory burden in the cystic fibrosis lung".
PA401 is an engineered form of the human chemokine IL-8, currently in a Phase 1 clinical study in London. Human IL-8 (CXCL8) is a chemokine produced by macrophages, endothelial and other cells and its primary function is the attraction of neutrophils to sites of acute and chronic inflammation. PA401 prevents this natural function. It acts as a potent, targeted anti-inflammatory protein preventing the infiltration of neutrophils which is a hallmark of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF).
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About ProtAffin AG
ProtAffin is a clinical stage European biotechnology company developing a novel class of next generation biopharmaceuticals applicable to high-priority disease targets in the fields of inflammation, respiratory disease and oncology. The company's CellJammer® discovery technology is used to discover and develop novel biopharmaceuticals by engineering decoy mutants of chemokines and growth factors so that they displace their natural counterparts from glycosaminoclycans (GAGs) and, furthermore, have an inactivated receptor domain, thereby causing potent down-regulation of protein function. By contrast, most monoclonal antibodies investigated to date do not recognise glycan-bound chemokines or growth factors. In addition to PA401, ProtAffin's pipeline also contains a modified form of the human chemokine MCP-1 (CCL2) which potently blocks macrophages in a number of inflammatory and oncology settings and a modified SDF-1α (CXCL12), a protein implicated in fibrotic lung disease and ophthalmology. ProtAffin is well funded by a strong syndicate of leading US and European VCs.
About PA401
PA401 is an engineered form of the human chemokine IL-8, currently in a Phase 1 clinical study in London. Human IL-8 (CXCL8) is a chemokine produced by macrophages, endothelial and other cells and its primary function is the attraction of neutrophils to sites of acute and chronic inflammation. PA401 prevents this natural function. It acts as a potent, targeted anti-inflammatory protein preventing the infiltration of neutrophils which is a hallmark of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF).
PA401 has shown very good efficacy in preclinical models of neutrophilic lung inflammation including COPD. A patent encompassing PA401 and other IL-8 variants was granted to ProtAffin in the USA and EU in 2009.
PA401 is in clinical development for COPD, CF and related respiratory indications. COPD represents the 4th leading cause of death in the western world and is an underserved pharmaceutical market in excess of $11bn per year. Cystic Fibrosis is the most common life-threatening genetic disease in Europe and the US. A key aspect of lung damage in patients with CF is related to the permanent damage done to lung tissue due to an underlying chronic inflammation caused by high IL-8 levels and neutrophilic inflammation.
Contacts
Dr. Mike Bartley, Chief Development Officer
ProtAffin AG
Impulszentrum Graz-West
Reininghausstrasse 13a
A-8020 Graz, Austria
T: +43 316 382 541
F: +43 316 382 541-4
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.protaffin.com
For media enquiries:
College Hill Life Sciences
Dr. Robert Mayer
Tel: +49 89 5238 8030
Email: [email protected]