Biotech Values

[biocqr]

REGN > Regeneron says allergy drug may be darling of its pipeline

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/19/us-regeneron-allergies-idUSKBN0HE29G20140919

The allergy drug, dupilumab, is meant to treat underlying causes of asthma, eczema and nasal polyps and could transform treatment of those suspected related ailments, the officials say.

"We have a lot of debate within the company as to which of our many programs is the most exciting, and a lot of people are voting on dupilumab," Regeneron research chief George Yancopoulos said in an interview at company headquarters.

The other contender is a new type of cholesterol treatment, called alirocumab, which Regeneron expects to submit for regulatory approval later this year.

Dupilumab works by blocking IL-4 and IL-13, two immune system proteins that attack healthy tissue and cause inflammation in different parts of the body. The medicine, co-developed with French drugmaker Sanofi, slashed asthma flareups by 87 percent in a mid-stage trial described last year.

A measurement of eczema symptoms and surface area involvement diminished by 45 to 74 percent in a separate mid-stage trial of dupilumab described in July. It involved patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, a chronic type of eczema.

Data from mid-stage trials of the drug against nasal polyps - growths that impair smell, breathing and sleeping and which are linked to sinus infections - are expected in coming months and could give a fuller portrait of dupilumab's potential.

"If dupilumab is equally impressive against nasal polyps, I think it will nail the hypothesis that this spectrum of allergic diseases are all inter-related variations of the same disease" and due to the inflammation-causing proteins, Yancopoulos said.

Millions of people worldwide suffer from various combinations of asthma, nasal polyps and atopic dermatitis, pointing to potential high demand for dupilumab, Yancopoulos said.