Published preclinical results confirm IdeS potential in cancer immunotherapy
Hansa Medical AB (publ), a biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunomodulatory enzymes, announced today that preclinical data have been published in the peer-reviewed journal, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics (Järnum et al., Mol Cancer Ther May 22 2017 DOI: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-17-0108), confirming the potential of the company’s lead candidate IdeS in cancer immunotherapy.
The published findings demonstrate how pre-treatment with IdeS in tumour animal models can increase the efficacy of currently available antibody based cancer therapies.
Christian Kjellman, Senior Vice President R&D at Hansa Medical, said: “We are very encouraged by this data, which demonstrate the potential of IdeS as a pre-treatment for cancer patients. Removing inhibiting IgG antibodies prior to dosing the patient with a therapeutic antibody could potentially stimulate a stronger immune response thereby increasing the efficacy of the given treatment.”
IgG antibodies are one of the most abundant proteins in the body. They play an important role in the immune system, protecting against bacterial and viral infections by targeting the pathogen and attaching it to immune cells. The target-specific elimination capacity of IgG has been utilized in the development of a number of anticancer therapeutic antibodies currently in clinical use.
However, high levels of IgG antibodies have been shown to limit the efficacy of these anticancer therapies, as they can saturate the receptors of the patient’s immune cells preventing them from efficiently killing the tumour cells.
IdeS is an enzyme that depletes IgG antibodies fast and effectively. The article entitled “Enzymatic inactivation of endogenous IgG by IdeS enhances therapeutic antibody efficacy” show that IdeS is a potent tool to reboot the human antibody repertoire and to generate a window to preferentially load therapeutic antibodies onto effector cells.
Pre-treatment with IdeS could be a potential new treatment to unblock the receptors of immune cells thereby enabling the full potential of the therapeutic antibodies. Hansa Medical is investigating applications of IdeS in cancer immunotherapy under the project name EnzE – Enzyme based antibody Enhancement. The company is currently evaluating options for initiating a clinical study.
The information in this press release is disclosed pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was released for public disclosure through the agency of the contact person stated below on May 23 2017 at 08.00 CET.
For further information, please contact:
Emanuel Björne, Vice President Business Development and Investor Relations, Hansa Medical AB (publ)
Mobile: 46707175477
E-mail: emanuel.bjorne@hansamedical.com
Göran Arvidson, CEO
, Hansa Medical AB (publ)
Mobile: 4670633 3042
E-mail: goran.arvidson@hansamedical.com
About IdeS
IdeS, IgG degrading enzyme of Streptococcus pyogenes, is an enzyme that depletes IgG antibodies fast and effectively. Hansa Medical is developing IdeS as a proprietary treatment to enable kidney transplantation in sensitized patients, previously unable to undergo transplantation surgery due to the presence of anti-HLA IgG antibodies. Efficacy data reported from three phase 2 studies have demonstrated that IdeS rapidly and significantly reduced anti-HLA antibodies, enabling transplantation. IdeS is currently being evaluated in a multi-center study in the U.S. in highly sensitized patients that do not respond to available desensitization methods. Results from this study are expected in 2018. In addition to transplantation, IdeS has potential applications in a variety of rare autoimmune diseases. IdeS is protected by several patents and results of studies with IdeS have been published in a number of peer reviewed scientific journals.
About Hansa Medical AB
Hansa Medical is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel immunomodulatory enzymes for transplantation and acute autoimmune diseases. The lead project IdeS is a proprietary antibody-degrading enzyme currently in late- stage clinical development for kidney transplant patients, with significant potential for further development in other solid organ transplants and a wide range of acute autoimmune indications. The company also has a strong pipeline of preclinical assets that may provide a second wave of potential drugs. Under the project name NiceR, novel immunoglobulin cleaving enzymes are developed for repeat dosing translating the Hansa Medical technology into relapsing autoimmune diseases and oncology. Hansa Medical is based in Lund, Sweden, its shares (ticker: HMED) are listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.
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