Research update: IL-17

RNS Number : 4575B

C4X Discovery Holdings PLC

07 October 2015

 



Research update:  Small molecule leads against IL-17 for inflammation and autoimmune diseases

7 October, 2015 - C4X Discovery Holdings plc ("C4XD"), a leader in rational drug discovery and design, is pleased to provide the following research update on key, highly selective small molecule leads in its programme against Interleukin-17 (IL-17), a critical and high value target in inflammation and autoimmune diseases.

Following the recently announced advances in our diabetes and inflammation programmes, we have shown again that our conformational design technology can significantly outperform conventional drug-discovery approaches when it comes to generating novel agents for challenging disease targets, in this case the member of a protein-protein interaction that has typically proved difficult to target with small-molecule drugs. 

IL-17 is implicated in multiple inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and is the subject of numerous clinical studies. Current attempts to target IL-17 are largely based around monoclonal antibodies, which have the necessary size required to inhibit the IL-17/IL-17R engagement. Historically, identifying small molecules that specifically inhibit the IL-17 pathway has been extremely challenging, but our technology has identified small molecules that can selectively block the IL-17/IL-17R interaction with high potency. These are conventional, drug-like compounds, for oral and/or topical use, which would offer benefits over injectable therapies such as IL-17 antibodies. We aim to progress our IL-17 programme towards optimisation and in vivo validation over the coming months. 

The first significant market to be targeted by IL-17 antibodies is psoriasis, which is estimated to be worth $6bn per annum. Other significant IL-17 market opportunities include psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, together estimated to be worth a further $6bn per annum.

Outlook

C4XD's most advanced compound, an oral Orexin-1 antagonist for the treatment of addiction, is in formal pre-clinical safety and toxicity studies prior to initiation of clinical trials. C4XD expects to file for regulatory approval of Phase I studies at the end of 2016.

C4XD's programmes against Type 2 Diabetes and Inflammation are progressing towards in vivo proof of concept data, and C4XD expects to be in a position to announce further news regarding these programmes before the end of 2015.

Piers Morgan, CEO of C4XD commented: "We continue to expand our proprietary pipeline by using C4XD's highly effective conformational design technology, and our IL-17 programme is the latest addition. We are rapidly building a portfolio of highly attractive programmes in areas of significant unmet medical need with large target markets. Our technology can be applied broadly to generate drug candidates in a fraction of the time and cost incurred using conventional methods."

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For further information please contact:

C4X Discovery Holdings plc

Piers Morgan, CEO                                                                        07912 293832

Zeus Capital

Dan Bate                                                                                             0161 831 1512

Dominic Wilson                                                                              0203 829 5628

FTI Consulting

Matthew Cole / Brett Pollard / Rob Winder / Matthew Moss          020 3727 1000

About C4XD

C4XD (AIM: C4XD) is a Manchester-based company focused on optimising drug discovery and design. It was founded in 2008 as a spin-out from the University of Manchester. The company uses its NMR-based technology to solve the dynamic 3D structures of a broad range of biomolecules, including peptides, cofactors, oligonucleotides and carbohydrates. Since C4XD's NMR technology shows what shapes active molecules prefer to adopt, it provides high-quality templates for rational drug discovery and design, and valuable conformational information for drug candidate optimisation. In addition, the data is generated faster and more reliably than standard techniques such as X-ray co-crystallography or molecular modelling. C4XD is using its technology in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry and to build its own proprietary pipeline of high-value therapeutic candidates. For additional information please go to: www.c4xdiscovery.com

 

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