Kamada Announces Collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital for Proof of Concept Study Evaluating Benefit of Liquid Alpha-1 Antitrypsin on Liver Preservation Prior to Transplantation
NESS ZIONA, Israel, Feb. 21, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kamada Ltd. (KMDA) (KMDA), a plasma-derived protein therapeutics company focused on orphan indications, announced today a collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to conduct a proof of concept study evaluating the potential benefit of the Company’s Liquid Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) on liver preservation. The study will be led by James F. Markmann M.D., Ph.D., Chief, Division of Transplant Surgery, MGH, who is the Claude E. Welch Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
AAT has been found to have anti-inflammatory, tissue-protective, immune-modulatory, and anti-apoptotic properties in direct consequence of its underlying anti-protease capabilities. These properties may attenuate inflammation by lowering levels of pro-inflammatory mediators such as cytokines and proteases that are associated with organ transplantation rejection, including liver transplantation. Liver preservation methods pre-transplant are improving due to advanced technologies.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of Kamada’s Liquid AAT on graft quality and viability, as well as assess the graft for markers of Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury (IRI) caused to the liver.
“There remains a significant unmet need in reducing the mortality and re-transplantation rates associated with liver transplants, which in many cases are the result of IRI of the transplanted organ,” said Dr. Markmann. “While liver preservation methods have improved in recent years, advancements are still needed to improve patient care. As MGH’s liver transplant program is one of the largest in the world, this area of research is of particular interest to our institution, and we look forward to studying the mechanism of IRI in liver transplant and the potential of AAT in modifying ischemic response.”
“We are delighted to work with MGH, a world-renowned institution that is consistently ranked as one of the top hospitals in the US, to conduct this proof of concept study,” said Amir London, Kamada’s Chief Executive Officer. “Based on its known properties, we think AAT may have significant potential in IRI in the liver. There are over 100,000 solid organ transplants conducted each year globally, of which over 20,000 are liver transplants. As such, if AAT is demonstrated to improve graft quality in this study, Kamada intends to conduct a pivotal study in order to seek approval in liver preservation, which could also lead in the future to improved preservation of additional solid organ transplants, representing a potential market opportunity of over $500 million for Kamada’s Liquid AAT.”
