Kira Pharmaceuticals, a global biotechnology company pioneering transformational complement therapies to treat immune-mediated diseases, will present preclinical data supporting its bifunctional approach to complement inhibition at the 2022 European Meeting on Complement in Human Disease (EMCHD) Conference.
| Oral presentation characterizes promising PK/PD properties of KP104 in relevant animal models and supports its further development as a potent bifunctional complement inhibitor suitable for both intravenous and subcutaneous administration Poster presentations demonstrate synergistic effects of selectively inhibiting both the alternative and terminal pathways to treat complement-driven diseases, including data from a new C3G mouse model CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and SUZHOU, China, Aug. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Kira Pharmaceuticals, a global biotechnology company pioneering transformational complement therapies to treat immune-mediated diseases, will present preclinical data supporting its bifunctional approach to complement inhibition at the 2022 European Meeting on Complement in Human Disease (EMCHD) Conference. The research, conducted in collaboration with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, further supports the clinical advancement of Kira’s lead asset, KP104, a first-in-class biologic with a unique dual-approach mechanism of action. Designed to selectively block the alternative and terminal pathways, KP104 provides a powerful and synergistic method of targeting validated drivers of disease in the complement system.
Taking place August 26-29, the conference will be held in Bern, Switzerland. Presentation abstracts are now available for viewing at the conference website. An intricate constellation of protein pathways, the complement system is a key component of innate immunity. Aberrant activity within this system can be a driver of diseases such as autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. Due to the complexity of complement biology, there remains a significant unmet medical need for next-generation and anti-complement drugs with better efficacy and convenience of administration than current therapies. The research presented at EMCHD provides evidence that using a bifunctional approach to target alternative and terminal pathways of the complement system could result in therapies with greater efficacy, longer lasting effects, and improved safety. “Based on intellectual property licensed from and developed at the University of Pennsylvania, Kira’s leading product KP104 is designed to overcome the inherent challenges of complement drug discovery and in preclinical models, exhibits superior efficacy and longer-lasting inhibition than current complement-focused treatment options,” said Kira President & Head of R&D and Co-founder Wenru Song, M.D., Ph.D. “We are highly encouraged that these data underscore the potential of KP104 in treating a range of debilitating diseases and we are looking forward to initiating Phase 2 trials.” Kira has completed a Phase 1 first-in-human (FIH) study evaluating KP104, in which clinical proof-of-mechanism (POM) was achieved, and is initiating Phase 2 proof-of-concept (POC) trials across multiple indications. The company plans to present safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) data from the Phase 1 study at a medical conference later this year. Details for the oral presentation are as follows: Title: Pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics of KP104, a bi-functional antibody fusion protein inhibitor of complement, in C5/FcRn-humanized transgenic mice and Cynomolgus monkeys 1Kira Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge MA, 2Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 3Kira Pharmaceuticals, Suzhou China, 4 Department of Medicine, Division of Dermatology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA *Correspondence authors Details for the poster presentations are as follows: Title: Design and characterization of KP104, a bi-functional anti-C5 mAb and FH1-5 fusion protein that synergistically inhibits alternative and terminal pathways of complement activation 1Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2Kira Pharmaceuticals, Suzhou, China, 3Kira Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA, 4Institute of Hematology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Tianjin, China Title: Therapeutic efficacy of a bi-functional anti-C5 mAb/FH1-5 fusion protein in a mouse model of rapidly progressing lethal C3 glomerulopathy 1Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2Kira Pharmaceuticals, Suzhou, China, 3Kira Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, MA Disclosure: Dr. Wen-Chao Song, a Professor of Pharmacology in the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and co-founder of Kira Pharmaceuticals as well as Chair of the Kira Scientific Advisory Board, owns equity, receives consultant fees and benefits from sponsored research funding from Kira. Dr. Song is also an inventor of patents owned by the University of Pennsylvania and licensed to Kira Pharmaceuticals, and as such, both Dr. Song and Penn may further benefit financially from the successful development and commercialization of products by the company. About KP104 About Kira Pharmaceuticals
SOURCE Kira Pharmaceuticals |
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