Isis licenses anti-inflammatory peptides to San Francisco startup
31st July 2014
Rogne Bioscience, a privately-held biotechnology company based in San Francisco Bay Area, has acquired a licence to anti-inflammatory peptides from Oxford University Innovation.
The potent anti-inflammatory activity of the peptides was discovered by Professor David Greaves at the University of Oxford’s Sir William Dunn School of Pathology.
The company, which has raised over $1.5 million in seed financing, is developing a first-in-class, topical biologic to address the unmet need for a safe, effective, non-steroidal treatment for patients with mild to moderate psoriasis.
Tom Gadek, CEO of Rogne, said:
‘In Rogne’s feasibility studies, we have been able to verify the anti-inflammatory activity of the peptide that was first published by Professor Greaves’ lab. We have also demonstrated that the peptide can be formulated to penetrate human skin and, when applied topically, inhibits dermal inflammation in a dose-dependent manner in mice. We plan to complete a clinical proof of concept study to demonstrate activity in psoriasis patients.’
Professor Greaves said:
‘Because the peptide will be applied to the skin, we expect to avoid the side-effects which trouble patients who use current injected or oral psoriasis drugs.
‘Our peptide is also derived from a protein which is produced naturally by the human body and appears to play a role as the body’s own off-switch for inflammation.
‘It’s been really great that Oxford University Innovation have worked with us over the last five years to ensure that these important early steps in reaching the potential of this discovery have happened. We are also delighted to be working with Rogne Bioscience.’
Rogne’s Chief Medical Officer, Karl Beutner, MD said:
‘All the biologic drugs that we currently use for treating conditions such as psoriasis work by dampening down inflammation all over the body, not just in the skin where the disease occurs. As a result they all have general immunosuppressive side-effects such as increases in number and severity of infections.’
The peptides are derived from the plasma protein chemerin and work by reducing the production of inflammatory signaling proteins called cytokines which play a central role in the body’s response to infection and injury. They are also implicated in the excessive immune responses underlying inflammatory diseases. The peptides inhibit activated antigen presenting cells by reducing the production of inflammatory cytokines including IL-12/23, TNFα, RANTES, IL-6 and IL-1β.
Isis has granted Rogne an exclusive, world-wide licence to the associated patents.
The initial work in Professor Greaves’ lab investigating inflammation was funded by the British Heart Foundation in the context of possible novel anti-inflammatory treatments for cardiovascular disease. Professor Jeremy Pearson, Associate MedicalDirector at the Foundation, said:
Press release sign up‘We are delighted that the research we funded has now led to a potential new anti-inflammatory treatment for psoriasis.’
