First In-Vivo Data Shows Resolvins Suppress IL-23 And IL-17, Key Mediators Of Inflammatory Disease

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Also Included In: Immune System / Vaccines;  Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Article Date: 07 Jul 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the leading resolvin therapeutics company, today announced that a research team led by a Resolvyx scientific advisor and a company co-founder has demonstrated that the resolvin E1 (RvE1) effectively suppresses IL-23 and IL-17, two key inflammatory mediators of chronic inflammatory disease, in a preclinical model of asthma. RvE1 is the active ingredient in RX-10001, one of Resolvyx's leading clinical candidates. The paper, titled "Resolvin E1 regulates interleukin 23, interferon-δ and lipoxin A4 to promote the resolution of allergic airway inflammation," published in the journal Nature Immunology.

"This study demonstrates that RvE1 potently suppresses IL-23 and IL-17, which are critical in regulating airway inflammation in chronic asthma," said Bruce D. Levy, M.D., lead author of the study, scientific advisor to Resolvyx and Associate Professor of Medicine at the Department of Internal Medicine Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital. "As the IL-23/IL-17 pathway has been increasingly linked to chronic inflammation, tissue remodeling, pathological neovascularization and bone loss, these results have implications for the therapeutic potential of resolvins in a range of human diseases."

The research team evaluated RX-10001 (RvE1) in a well established mouse model of asthma and showed that RX-10001 (RvE1), when administered at the peak of inflammation, significantly suppressed airway inflammation and prevented lung hyperreactivity. The levels of IL-17 and IL-23 were reduced by 70% and 60%, respectively, contributing to a greater than 80% reduction in infiltrating leukocytes including eosinophils, which are a major driver of the allergic airway hyper-responsiveness.

"The finding that RX-10001 suppresses IL-23 and IL-17 suggests that resolvins can potentially treat not only asthma but also inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis and other diseases," said Charles Serhan, Ph.D., co-author of the study, co-founder of Resolvyx and Director of the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury, Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Given their broad potential to treat human disease, it is very exciting that Resolvyx is advancing resolvin drug candidates into clinical trials in the coming months."

Resolvyx also has conducted preclinical studies with RX-10001 (RvE1) in asthma and other systemic inflammatory diseases. Resolvyx has announced plans to initiate human clinical trials for RX-10001 in the first half of 2009.

About Resolvins

Resolvins are a recently discovered family of naturally-occurring, small molecule lipid mediators that can be targeted to treat a wide range of diseases. In particular, resolvins act to protect healthy tissue during an immuno-inflammatory response to infection, injury or other environmental challenge, and then act to resolve inflammation and promote healing after the insult has passed. Resolvins are shown to be highly potent and efficacious in pre-clinical models of asthma, atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, dry eye and retinal disease, among others.

Resolvins are potential drug candidates to treat a broad range of acute and chronic diseases caused by a failure to resolve the inflammatory response and restore immune homeostasis. Such diseases include auto-immune diseases (like Crohn's disease, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis), allergic diseases (like asthma) and chronic inflammatory diseases (like atherosclerosis, degenerative retinal diseases, chronic dry eye and Alzheimer's disease). Resolvins offer an entirely novel biological approach to treating significant inflammatory diseases, with a decreased potential for immuno-suppression.

About Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals

Resolvyx Pharmaceuticals is a privately-held biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of resolvins, a novel class of therapies to treat inflammatory diseases and their complications. Resolvyx's drug R&D programs are focused on characterizing and developing resolvin-based compounds. With its experienced management team, world-class scientists and leading investors, Resolvyx is well-positioned to capitalize on its extensive portfolio of more than 55 patents and applications. The company's headquarters are in Bedford, Massachusetts.

http://www.resolvyx.com.