30 April 2018 - - Seattle, Washington-based biopharmaceutical company Kv1.3 Therapeutics, Inc. has released new data from sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) patients that identified high expression of the Kv1.3 ion channel on lymphocytes from skeletal muscle biopsies obtained from patients with this progressive and debilitating degenerative musculoskeletal disorder, the company said.
Identification of Kv1.3, a regulator of T effector memory cell activity, on lymphocytes in sIBM patients provides support for the potential treatment of this disease with Kv1.3
Therapeutics's drug therapy, dalazatide, a highly selective and a near irreversible inhibitor of the Kv1.3 ion channel. T effector memory cells which are implicated in many T cell mediated autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis.
Dalazatide is a novel Kv1.3 blocker being developed initially for rare autoimmune diseases, has demonstrated activity in a variety of autoimmune disease models and a proof-of-concept prototypical autoimmune disease Phase 1b clinical trial.
In addition to showing clinical activity in an autoimmune patient population, additional studies have also reinforced the immune sparing features of this drug. Kv1.3
Therapeutics's products provide potentially breakthrough solutions in the toolkit for physicians managing patients with certain rare and debilitating autoimmune diseases.
Kv1.3 Therapeutics is committed to transforming treatment alternatives for patients with rare and autoimmune diseases.
The company is focused on developing a unique group of Kv1.3 blockers for potential management of rare diseases such as myositis, a rare and debilitating disease which affects over 16,000 Americans. The company actively collaborates with private, academic, and industry partners to advance research and clinical activities in rare diseases.