Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc (fka IMNPQ)

[Investor100]

Immune Pharmaceuticals and Hadasit File a Joint Patent on the Oral Use of Anti-Eotaxin Monoclonal Antibodies, Including Bertilimumab, for the Treatment of GI and Liver Diseases


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/immune-pharmaceuticals-hadasit-file-joint-235600618.html

June 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Immune Pharmaceuticals Inc. ("Immune"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer, and Hadasit, the Technology Transfer company of The Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, Israel, announced today that they together filed a provisional patent on the oral use of anti-eotaxin monoclonal antibodies, including Immune's bertilimumab, for the treatment of inflammatory gastro-intestinal (GI) and liver diseases. Immune signed a licensing agreement with Hadasit in conjunction with the provisional patent filing.

"Oral administration of a non-absorbable mouse anti-eotaxin-1 antibody showed biological activity in the gut, and exerted a systemic immuno-modulatory effect to alleviate immune-mediated hepatitis in an animal model. The data suggests that testing for eotaxin-1 serum levels, and using oral bertilimumab, a fully human monoclonal antibody, may enable the identification and treatment of patients with high-eotaxin-1-associated NASH," said Professor Yaron Ilan, Professor of Medicine, Gastro-Enterology and Liver Units and Director, Department of Medicine at Hebrew University's Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, Israel, who conducted the research supporting the provisional patent application.

Immune is currently conducting a double blind placebo controlled phase IIA clinical trial in Ulcerative Colitis, with parenteral bertilimumab. Immune is currently collaborating with Professor Arun Sanyal, former President of the American Liver Association, and Professor of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Medical Center to obtain additional insights on the potential role of eotaxin in NASH. Phase II clinical trials in patients with NASH are planned to follow these collaborative studies.

Eotaxin-1, a specific chemokine, plays a role in both innate and adaptive immune responses and modulates the cross-talk between key cells involved in inflammation. Bertilimumab is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody that blocks eotaxin-1, is designed for personalized therapy in inflammatory conditions mediated by high eotaxin-1 levels, among which are Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, NASH, and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Alleviation of insulin resistance is also associated with decreased eotaxin-1.

"Personalized therapies may help provide an optimized safety-to-efficacy ratio by selecting patients with higher response rates based on specific biomarkers," adds Professor Ilan.