Selecta Biosciences Inc. (NASDAQ:SELB) has entered a Research License and Option Agreement with IGAN Biosciences. The agreement is for the study of the Sector’s immune tolerance platform ImmTOR™ in combinations with immunoglobulin A (IgA) protease from IGAN for treating IgA nephropathy.
ImmTOR has the potential of mitigating ADAs formation
Ahead of exercising the option to sign an exclusive license contract, Select will carry preclinical research evaluating the ImmTOR’s combination with IgA protease. According to previous studies on animal models conducted by independent labs, IGAN’s IgA protease has the ability to remove damaging IgA from kidneys. The IgA protease also has shown the ability to improve renal dysfunction markers. The results from the preclinical studies suggest that IgA protease is a good candidate for decreasing disease progression rate and even reverse the disease.
However, the bacterial origin of the IgA protease makes it immunogenic and thus making it difficult to commercialize. This is where Selecta’s ImmTOR™ platform will come in handy, considering it can mitigate anti-drug antibodies’ formation to immunogenic enzymes. Previous studies of the company’s lead product SEL-212, which is a combination of pegadricase and ImmTOR™, demonstrated the ability to fight ADAs formation to immunogenic enzymes. The companies will combine the ImmTOR platform and IgA protease to develop a combination therapy for treating IgA nephropathy, a disease with considerable unmet need.
Agreement to develop nephropathy treatment
Selecta’s CEO Carsten Brunn said that they are delighted to build on the SEL-212 study results combining ImmTOR with an immunogenic enzyme to develop an IgA nephropathy treatment. He added that the IgA protease from IGAN has shown a lot of promise in preclinical trials. Therefore its combination with ImmTOR to mitigate ADAs can result in a transformational product for IgA nephropathy patients.
IGAN co-founder and Chief Medical officer Andrew Plaut said they are excited to enter the agreement to use ImmTOR tech combined with IgA proteases in developing a therapy. He added that the combination of the products offers the potential of realizing the value of IgA protease in removing kidney deposits.
