What’s Wrong With This Picture? | February Blog

 

 

 

 

Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a potent anti-cancer treatment that stimulates the immune system. Unfortunately, its toxic side effects have limited its clinical usefulness. Using computational design methods, researchers have created a new mimetic that shares the therapeutic properties of IL-2, yet eliminates the harmful effects. Where could this go wrong?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For starters, the protein mimetic may trigger off target effects …what if there is another receptor on another cell that you haven’t tested yet? No toxicity in mice does not mean no effects in humans! Look at the CD28 debacle by TeGenero!

Well of course there’s always immunogenicity! Preclinical gurus know that along with Specificity, Affinity and Developability, Immunogenicity is a key factor in novel protein success. People in the know use the ISPRI toolkit to reduce their risk.

Immunogenicity risk is still very real, as reports of a new case of pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) associated with human erythropoietin (rhEPO) are any indication. The good news now is that HLA typing had been performed for this clinical trial, and T cell response was confirmed. Initial reports point to a ‘danger factor’ (Tungsten!) as well as cell-mediated immune responses.

I was in Salzburg, Austria presenting these slides on in silico immunogenicity analysis at the APV Aggregation and Immunogenicity workshop. Katie Porter and I also had the opportunity to present to the BioPhorum Development Group in the EU on our Interactive Screening and Protein Reengineering Interface for Host Cell Proteins (ISPRI-HCP). Click on the links for your copies of my presentations.

We hosted our first immunogenicity seminar of the year in the United Kingdom. The focus was on new data and new publications in the field of immunogenicity assessment technology. We give thanks to Dr. John McCafferty (CEO/Founder, IONTAS) for assisting us, and to those who attended. You made this a succesful event! Attendees, don’t forget to give us your feedback on the seminar!

March 4th, 2019 marks the date for our Seoul Immunogenicity and Tolerance Seminar, taking place at the JW Marriott Seoul. Experts will share advances in vaccine design and protein drug development, as well as current research on Tregs, Tregitopes, immunogenicity, deimmunization, and tolerance induction. We look forward to this event!

 

 

 

European Immunogenicity Platform – Lisbon, Portugal: Meet with EpiVax on February 25-27 at the Altis Hotel and learn about our proprietary immunogenicity assessment tools.

AsiaTIDES – Tokyo, Japan: We’re bringing PANDAs to Asia! We will be in Tokyo on February 26-28 to talk about the Peptide Abbreviated New Drug Application Immunogenicity Risk Assessment Approach, which addresses the draft guidance by the FDA that requests in silico analysis for immunogenicity.

BIO Asia International Conference – Tokyo, Japan: Asian biotech and pharma companies will be meeting with EpiVax on March 5-6 at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo.