Novel pre-clinical in vivo data demonstrate the treatment potential of IdeS in Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS)
16 Feb 2017, 16:00
Regulatory information
Hansa Medical AB (publ) today announced data demonstrating that inactivation of IgG by IdeS treatment significantly promoted the recovery and reduced the degeneration of peripheral nerves in a model of the acute autoimmune disease Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).
The data were presented in an article entitled "IgG-degrading enzyme of Streptococcus pyogenes (IdeS) prevents disease progression and facilitates improvement in a rabbit model of Guillain-Barré syndrome" by Dr. Yu-Zhong Wang and Dr. Nobuhiro Yuki. The article was published in the scientific journal Experimental Neurology (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.expneurol.2017.02.010).
Dr Christian Kjellman, Senior Vice President R&D at Hansa Medical AB said “The data covered by this publication demonstrate that our IdeS treatment could be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of GBS. Potentially it could offer faster time to recovery, shorter stay in ICU/hospital and reduced risk of residual neurological deficits. We are making plans to begin a Phase II study in GBS."
This information is information that Hansa Medical AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 16:00 CET on February 16, 2017.
About Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS)
GBS is a rare acute autoimmune neurological disease in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous system. GBS is rare affecting 1-2 persons in 100,000 (Willison et al., Lancet 2016, 388:717-27) and usually occurs a few days or weeks after a respiratory or gastrointestinal viral infection, leading to severe muscle weakness which can interfere with breathing and heart function. There is currently no cure for GBS but symptoms can be reduced by plasma exchange and high-dose immunoglobulin therapy.
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. Top-line 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 focusing on novel immunomodulatory enzymes. The lead project IdeS is a proprietary antibody-degrading enzyme in clinical development, with potential use in transplantation and rare autoimmune diseases. Additional projects focus on development of new antibody modulating enzymes, as well as HBP, a diagnostic biomarker for prediction of severe sepsis at emergency departments that is already introduced on the market. The company is based in Lund, Sweden. Hansa Medical’s share (ticker: HMED) is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm.