European biotechnology company Apitope has recently revealed that they are developing therapeutic peptides to induce suppression of autoimmune responses towards self-antigens. As multiple sclerosis has been regarded one of the hot topics these days, the company claims that their recently concluded Phase IIA trial has revealed promising results for the treatment of the said auto-immune disease. That being said, experts said that the long-term study has allegedly revealed the potential of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of MS, this treatment strategy is then being associated with life-threatening complications mainly due to immune deficiency.
Apitope's Peptide Vaccine For MS
According to reports revealed by Labiotech, researchers said that a very different approach is based on reinstating immune balance without causing global immune suppression. Additionally, Apitope's executives claimed that the company's technology uses specific peptides, which induce an antigen-specific expansion of regulatory T cells which is noted for being the key mediators of immune tolerance. Consequently, the experts said that these cells are then considered to have the ability to suppress autoantigen-specific helper T cells, which produce proinflammatory cytokines and are responsible for immune pathology in diseases such as MS.
Furthermore, the peptide vaccine dubbed as ATX-MS-1467 was reportedly administered intradermally (ID) every 2 weeks for 20 weeks. In one of his statements reported by Yahoo, Dr. Keith Martin, Chief Executive Officer of Apitope has claimed that the company is apparently delighted with these positive results which serves as an affirmation of both clinical findings in their Phase Ib trial as well as preclinical results showing significant decreases in MRI detected lesions and disability in a standard multiple sclerosis model. Dr. Martin continues to explain that they will continue to progress the development of ATX-MS-1467 as a treatment for multiple sclerosis and are currently preparing for a Phase IIb placebo controlled study to demonstrate clinical efficacy.
ATX-MS-1467
Meanwhile, it was found that Apitope's lead product candidate is ATX-MS-1467, is a potentially disease-modifying therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, which consists of four short peptides that are derived from myelin basic protein, a key autoantigen in multiple sclerosis. Researchers have revealed that ATX-MS- 1467 has been designed to induce immunological tolerance of the body's T cells to key autoantigens thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis.
