Aqilion strengthens its operational team in clinical development prior to planned Phase I study with drug candidate for inflammatory diseases
Aqilion announced today that the company has recruited Anneli Tinnerholm to be responsible for Clinical Operations and for project management of the company’s Regulus program. The goal for Regulus is to start a Phase I clinical trial during the second half of 2022 with the drug candidate AQ280 as a potential treatment for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), an inflammatory disease of the esophagus. Anneli has solid experience of clinical development and has been active in clinical drug discovery for the past ten years.
Anneli Tinnerholm earned a Bachelor of Medical Science in Medical Biology at Linköping University and subsequently pursued studies in fields such as clinical drug development at Uppsala University. She has over ten years of experience in clinical development, from Phase I to Phase IV, with a focus on various indications and diseases. She began her career path at the CRO company NORMA, after which she held a variety of positions in clinical development at LINK Medical and SDS Life Science. Most recently she served as Clinical Project Manager at AMRA Medical AB.
Aqilion’s strategic focus is on drug targets and programs with large potential in inflammatory diseases. In December 2021, Aqilion acquired all rights to the Regulus program from LEO Pharma. Regulus is a new next-generation selective JAK1 inhibitor. Drugs with a similar mechanism of action have shown clinical efficacy in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The aim is to start a Phase I safety study with AQ280 in healthy volunteers in the second half of 2022, followed by a Phase IIa clinical trial in patients. Aqilion will initially develop the drug candidate AQ280 as a potential treatment for EoE. To date, no drugs with this mechanism of action have been developed for EoE and there is a high unmet medical need.
“Initiating clinical development is a strategically important milestone for Aqilion, and we look forward to taking the step from preclinical to clinical development within chronic inflammatory diseases. We are expanding and rounding out our team with additional individuals with extensive experience in clinical strategies, operational and regulatory matters, as well as quality control and production of the drug candidate. Anneli’s experience from clinical trials in combination with her management skills are an asset for our operational work with clinical development, as well as for our strategic planning in our programs. We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Anneli and to benefit from her drive and experience in our operational team,” says Sarah Fredriksson, CEO of Aqilion.
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Fredriksson, CEO, AQILION AB, + 46 (0)70 261 4575, sarah.fredriksson@aqilion.com
About eosinophilic esophagitis
Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is a rare chronic disease characterized by inflammation of the esophageal mucosa; the main symptom is swallowing difficulties. EoE is a relatively new diagnosis that is increasing in incidence. The disease, which has a progressive course, is also known as “allergic esophagitis” and is thought to be triggered by food allergens. Both children and adults can be affected and the diagnosis is most common in children in their teens and in adults aged 30-50. The condition is more common in men.
About Aqilion’s pipeline
Aqilion has four programs in various phases of development in its pipeline. All programs focus on developing novel innovative treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases for which few or no treatments are available and where there is currently a clear patient need.
The Regulus program (AQ280) is initially being developed as a potential treatment for EoE and a Phase I study is being planned. The Girtab program was developed in-house and Aqilion owns all intellectual property rights. The aim of the Girtab program is to develop a new treatment for chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The preclinical Alnitak program is developing an oral medication that specifically binds to and inhibits the TAK1 (MAP3K7) target protein, which has been shown to serve as a master regulator of inflammatory signaling. The program has been expanded and resources are also being invested in a project that focuses specifically on substances with the potential to treat inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system (CNS). The Polaris program has a new pharmacological strategy for selectively modulating NLRP3 inflammasome signaling and has the potential to be first in its class with a novel mechanism of action. Polaris is in the early research phase. More information is available on the website, pipeline.
About Aqilion
Aqilion is a biotech company that focuses on developing new innovative treatments for diseases caused by chronic inflammation and dysfunctional immune reactions such as autoimmune diseases. The company is mainly active in the early phases of drug discovery, from idea to early clinical development.
Aqilion combines its experience from major pharmaceutical companies with the drive and entrepreneurship of small growth companies. With solid experience in business development in innovative biotech and pharmaceutical companies, the company’s experienced team and Board of Directors have successfully navigated the process from drug discovery to market.
AQILION AB (publ) is a Swedish public limited company headquartered in Helsingborg, Sweden. www.aqilion.com
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