Date: 2018-06-25
Type of
information: Presentation of results at a congress
phase: preclinical
Announcement: presentation of results at American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) 78th Scientific Sessions
Company: Geneuro (Switzerland)
Product: GNbAC1
Action
mechanism:
- monoclonal antibody. The monoclonal antibody GNbAC1 targets the envelope protein MSRV-Env of an endogenous retrovirus which could play a critical role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis. Discovered in the early 90’s, the Human endogenous retrovirus of type W is closely associated with multiple sclerosis and, due to its neurotoxic properties, could be a causal factor of the disease. This retrovirus is normally latent in the genome of individuals, but it can be re-activated by certain co-factors to expresses a pathogenic protein, MSRV-Env. Recent evidence has demonstrated that this ENV-protein is expressed in multiple sclerosis lesions from an early stage, is pro-inflammatory and inhibits remyelination. By neutralizing MSRV-ENV, GNbAC1 could block a key factor promoting the inflammation on the plaques, as well as allowing the remyelination repair process to restart.
- The development of GNbAC1 is the result of 25 years of research into human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), including 15 years with the Mérieux Institute and INSERM, before GeNeuro was founded in 2006.
Disease: type 1 diabetes
Therapeutic
area: Autoimmune diseases - Metabolic diseases
Country:
Trial
details:
Latest
news:
- • On June 25, 2018, GeNeuro announced that new data
from mouse models confirm the involvement of a pathogenic protein encoded by a member of the human endogenous retroviruses (HERV-W) family, pHERV-W Env, in human type 1 diabetes (T1D) pathogenesis. Data were presented at the American Diabetes Association 78th Scientific Session, being held June 22-26, 2018 in Orlando, Florida.
- In this preclinical study, normal and transgenic mice in which pHERV-W Env is expressed were given streptozotocine, a toxic molecule known to induce experimental diabetes. Following streptozotocine exposure, transgenic mice were found to be more susceptible to pancreatic damage than wild-type mice as they developed more severe insulitis (P < 0.0001) and hyperglycemia (P < 0.01). Moreover, pHERV-W Env transgenic mice displayed severe pancreatic abnormalities that could explain their susceptibility to streptozotocine. The researchers concluded that if these transgenic mice results can be translated into humans, they could support a role for pHERV-W Env in T1D pathogenesis,
particularly in patients expressing this pathogenic protein.
GeNeuro is conducting a 60-patient Phase IIa in T1D, called RAINBOW, with its lead product, GNbAC1. Initial 6-months results are expected to be announced by end of September 2018.
Is
general: Yes
