FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE RNS REACH 23 APRIL 2014
Dr. Slyviane Muller, founder of Lupuzor, presents at Osaka University, Japan
ImmuPharma PLC (LSE: IMM), ("ImmuPharma" or the "Company"), the specialist drug discovery and development company, is pleased to announced that Dr. Sylviane Muller was recently invited by the Immunology Frontier Research Center of Osaka University, an internationally renowned research center in the field of immunology, to hold a seminar on the approach of Lupuzor for treating lupus patients. The details of her abstract have now been released.
Dr. Sylviane Muller, Research Director at CNRS, Strasbourg, France is the key inventor of Lupuzor. Her abstract was titled "Chaperone-mediated autophagy as a target of therapeutic P140 peptide used in lupus". Her presentation focused partly on the on the highly competitive and efficacious mode of mechanism of LupuzorTM (also known scientifically as P140), ImmuPharma's potential blockbuster drug for Lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease. LupuzorTM has received Special Protocol Assessment and Fast Track Designation from the FDA for a Phase III trial.
Sylviane Muller's Abstract : Summary
"In the pipeline of molecules with a potential for treating lupus patients, the P140 peptide holds a lot of promise. P140 is a 21-mer linear peptide (sequence 131-151) derived from the spliceosomal small nuclear ribonucleoprotein U1-70K. It contains a phosphoserine residue at position 140. In a multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled phase IIb study, P140/Lupuzor was safe and met its primary efficacy end points in lupus patients (Zimmer et al., ARD 2013). These results confirm data generated in MRL/lpr lupus-prone mice in which the preclinical studies were conducted (Monneaux et al., EJI 2003; Schall et al., J Autoimmunity 2012). In this setting, as in human, P140 was shown to behave as an immunomodulator and not as an immunosuppressant. In a step further, our studies demonstrated that the P140 peptide mechanism of action does involve autophagy processes. In a lupus context in which macroautophagy is affected (Gros et al., 2012), P140 readily binds HSPA8/HSC70 chaperone proteins (Page et al., PLoS ONE 2009) and reduces autophagic flux in MRL/lpr B cells (Page et al., ARD 2011). We recently showed that a selective form of autophagy, chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), is a key target of P140. By interfering with this particular pathway, P140 peptide may affect the endogenous (auto)antigen processing and the peptide loading to MHCII molecules, and as a consequence, induces a lower activation of autoreactive T and B cells, and a reduction of autoantibodies secreted by plasma cells. Our recent results shed light on mechanisms by which P140 can modulate lupus disease and by which it may operate in humans affected by this disorder that affect more than 5 million individuals in the world".
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Notes to Editors
ImmuPharma
ImmuPharma is focusing on developing novel medicines with high sales potential in specialist markets with serious unmet need. ImmuPharma has five drug candidates in development, two platform technologies and approximately 70 patents. The Company's most advanced drug candidate, LupuzorTM a potential blockbuster drug for Lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease has received the approval from the US FDA to enter phase III with a Special Protocol Assessment and "Fast Track" designation. Most recent news confirmed a five year £50m funding facility from Darwin Strategic and the establishment of a Scientific Advisory Board to provide scientific advice and support for Lupuzor's pivotal phase III programme. ImmuPharma was founded and is led by a commercially focused Board and management team with extensive experience. www.immupharma.com
Dr. Sylviane Muller, Research Director at CNRS & Co-founder of ImmuPharma France
Sylviane Muller is Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study of the University of Strasbourg (USIAS), holder of the chair of immunology and therapeutic chemistry, Distinguished class Research Director and head of the 'Immunologie et chimie thérapeutiques' unit of the "Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique" (CNRS), the largest fundamental research organization in Europe. She obtained her PhD at the University of Strasbourg. For two years, she was a post-doctoral fellow in Freiburg (Germany) at the Max-Planck Institute for Immunobiology. Her field of expertise covers autoimmunity, immuno-peptides and synthetic vaccines. She has made 23 patented discoveries and is widely published (330 publications and reviews/chapters). She was also a founder of Neosystem, now Polypeptide-France, a leading peptide development and manufacturing company. She is the key inventor of ImmuPharma's Lupus lead drug candidate Lupuzor and has been working in this field for more than ten years.
Osaka University Immunology Frontier Research Center (IFReC)
The IFReC was launched on October 1st, 2007 as part of the World Premier International (WPI) Research Center Program initiated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
Since then the IFReC has engaged in high-level research that is expected to make it an internationally renowned research center in the field of immunology.
Immunology explores the mechanisms that protect the body against various pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. Because the immune system is essential for eliminating infectious pathogens from the body, its malfunction gives rise to various immune disorders including allergies, cancers, autoimmune diseases, and allograft rejection during transplantation.
The scientific aim of IFReC is to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the immune system by employing not only traditional immunology experiments, but also a variety of imaging and bioinformatics technologies. In order to accomplish this goal, IFReC has recruited a diverse team of imaging and informatics scientists. These efforts will enable immunologists to directly track the dynamic behavior of immune cells and their cell-to-cell networks in order to clarify how immune cells respond to pathogens and cancers in vivo.