What is Multiple Sclerosis?
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a life-long, chronic disease that progressively destroys the central nervous system (CNS). It affects approximately 400,000 people in North America and more than 1 million worldwide and the current market for MS drugs is estimated at more than USD$12 billion.
It is a disease that affects more women than men, with onset typically occurring between 20 and 40 years of age. Symptoms of MS may include vision problems, loss of balance, numbness, difficulty walking and paralysis. In Australia MS affects over 15,000 people and worldwide MS may affect more than one million people.
ATL1102 is a second generation antisense
inhibitor targeting VLA-4 (Very late Antigen-4)
VLA-4 is a receptor on the surface of lymphocytes (a particular class of immune cells) which is important in immune cell adhesion to blood vessel walls and subsequent migration of lymphocytes into tissue – a key event in inflammatory diseases.
In inflammation, white blood cells (leukocytes) move out of the bloodstream into the inflamed tissue, for example, the Central Nervous System (CNS) in MS, and the lung airways in asthma. The inhibition of VLA-4 may prevent white blood cells from entering sites of inflammation, thereby slowing progression of the disease. VLA-4 is a clinically validated target in the treatment of MS. Antisense inhibition of VLA-4 has demonstrated positive effects in a number of animal models of inflammatory disease including MS with the MS animal data having been published in a peer reviewed scientific journal.
The company successfully completed a Phase IIa efficacy and safety trial, significantly reducing the number of MRI lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis and has also completed toxicology studies to support a potential future Phase IIb of ATL1102 in MS patients.
