This week, exciting news came out that Eledon Pharmaceuticals’ tegoprubart was successfully used to aid the first-ever transplant of a genetically-edited pig kidney into a 62-year-old man with end-stage kidney disease. Tegoprubart is an investigational anti-CD40L antibody that has a high affinity for CD40 ligand. CD40L signaling plays an important role in adaptive and innate immune cell activation and function, and is therefore a target for non-lymphocyte depleting, immunomodulatory therapeutic intervention.
Organ rejection poses a significant threat to the success of transplantation procedures, potentially endangering the recipient's life. This rejection stems from allorecognition, where the recipient's immune system perceives the transplanted organ as foreign material, prompting an immune reaction against it. Current therapies to mitigate rejection risks use calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs), but prolonged CNI usage can cause several complications. Thus, improving strategies for organ protection to prolong their functionality represents a pressing unmet need.
There are several potential antibody drugs in current development and ongoing clinical trials. One example is a recent trial studying the potential of tocilizumab, a recombinant humanized monoclonal antibody directed against the human interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor. Tocilizumab has shown promise in the treatment of chronic active antibody-mediated rejection (caAMR) in kidney transplants. They hypothesize that inhibition of IL-6 receptor will reduce antibody production and antibody-mediated damage to then slow the decline in graft function in the long-term.
Another exciting antibody drug in development is Tonix Pharmaceuticals’ TNX-1500, an Fc-modified humanized anti-CD40L monoclonal antibody. A Phase 1 clinical stage has just been completed in healthy volunteers, with the aim of becoming a treatment for the prevention of rejection in solid organ and bone marrow transplant, in addition to treating autoimmune disorders.
In an informative review published this month, Park et al. describes the current use of antithymoglobulin as induction regimen in kidney transplantation. In Korea, antithymoglobulin accounts for 20% of all induction therapy. It is a purified gamma globulin used to treat human thymocytes in horses and rabbits, and for kidney transplantation, antithymoglobulin immunosuppressants attach to the T-cell surface to induce antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), leading to apoptosis.
This report aims to explore the events and trends of the biopharmaceutical industry in Q2 (April, May, June). Besides crovalimab and Vyloy, two more novel antibody drugs have been approved this year
The start of 2024 has seen leaps in deals for antibody therapeutics, especially ADCs (antibody-drug conjugates). This report aims to explore the events and trends of the biopharmaceutical industry in Q1. As of now, only two novel antibody drugs have been approved this year, but many more in regulatory review are expected to be fully approved.
Alzheimer’s research has undergone transformative changes in recent years, characterized by breakthroughs, controversies, and a reevaluation of long-held theories. Recently, BioArctic announced a global license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb for BioArctic’s PyroGlutamate-
The FDA has revoked Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for multiple COVID-19 monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies, including those developed by Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca, Vir Biotechnology, and Regeneron. This decision reflects the challenges of targeting rapidly mutating viruses like SARS-CoV-2, which