Neovacs Announces The Publication Of A PNAS Article On Anti-IFNα Kinoid Active Immunization In Lupus

Main Category: Lupus
Article Date: 17 Mar 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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Neovacs, a biotech company pioneering the development of anti-cytokine and anti-viral regulation protein therapeutic vaccines, today announced the publication of an article on anti-IFNα kinoid active immunization in the March 11th edition of the prestigious journal PNAS (the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA). The integral press release is available by clicking on this link (PDF).

In an article entitled "IFNα kinoid vaccine-induced neutralizing antibodies prevent clinical manifestations in a lupus flare murine model", Prof. Daniel Zagury MD and colleagues demonstrate the efficacy of an anti-IFNα kinoid active immunization approach in a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, also referred to simply as "lupus"). Lupus is a frequent, life-threatening, chronic auto-immune disease which strikes up to 3 million people in the seven major developed countries (source: Datamonitor, 2007). Lupus can be fatal. The cause is not known but type I IFNs (IFNα and β) have recently been described as key agents in the etiopathogenic process.

In the PNAS article, Zagury et al. report that an IFNα-derived immunogen called IFNα kinoid (a heterocomplex of IFNα and keyhole limpet hemocyanin) delayed and/or prevented the manifestations of lupus (including proteinuria, histological lesions and death triggered by IFNα Adv challenge) in NZB/W mice. The IFNα kinoid acted by triggering a strong IgG antibody immune response targeted specifically against IFNα. Importantly, no cellular immune response against IFNα was observed, as demonstrated by the lack of T cell proliferation after stimulation of splenocytes from immunized mice by the cytokine.

About Neovacs

Neovacs is acknowledged as a pioneer in the development of novel therapeutic vaccines against human cytokines (kinoids) and immunosuppressive viral proteins (toxoids). Neovacs' key investors are Truffle Capital, Novartis Venture Fund and OTC Asset Management. Neovacs' most advanced program (the TNFα kinoid) is currently being tested in a Phase I/II clinical study in patients suffering from Crohn's Disease.

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Neovacs