Californian company licenses Ludwig research

Californian therapeutic antibody developer KalosBios Pharmaceuticals has joined the long list of international companies picking the fruits of Australian medical research.

KalosBios announced today it has in-licensed a promising antibody-based therapy for rheumatoid arthiritis from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne.

KalosBios is planning a Phase I human clinical trial next year of a monocloncal antibody (MAb) developed by Ludwig researchers, in volunteer patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The Ludwig MaB inhibits an undisclosed protein in the inflammatory pathway -- KalosBios confirms only that it isn’t the TNF-1 receptor, the common target of the three market leading MAbs for rheumatoid arthritis, Centacor’s Remicade, Abbott’s Humira, and Immunex’s Enbrel.

In a statement, KalosBios said up to 40 per cent of rheumatoid arthritis patients either fail to respond to TNF-1 receptor MAbs, or develop neutralizing antibodies that render the MAbs ineffective. KalosBios said the protein identified by the Ludwig researchers appeared to play a key role in establishing and managing the destruction of connective tissues in the joints. Blocking the protein’s activity prevents the induction of arthritis, and also halts its progression in animal models.

Luwdig researchers have also developed a gene-knockout mouse lacking the gene for the protein, and have shown that the mice are resistant to the induction not only of rheumatoid arthritis but several other autoimmune diseases.

"Because the function of this protein is well conserved among mammals, we are especially optimistic that the information and first generation antibody developed by the LICR will lead to an effective drug in humans,” said KaloBios CEO Dr Geoffrey Yarranton.