GHENT, Belgium, 19 June 2014 - Ablynx [Euronext Brussels: ABLX] today announced that it will present pre-clinical proof-of-concept data on its proprietary anti-Kv1.3 Nanobody® at two upcoming leading ion channel meetings. The four presentations will take place at the “Collaborations in Ion Channel Drug Discovery” meeting being held in Cambridge, UK from 19 to 20 June, 2014 and at the “12th Annual Ion Channel Retreat” being held in Vancouver, Canada from 25 to 27 June, 2014.
The oral presentation and 3 poster presentations will include results demonstrating:
The ability to develop Nanobodies with sub-nanomolar potency on the Kv1.3 ion channel (Potassium voltage-gated channel which is expressed in T and B lymphocytes) and greater than 1,000-fold specificity over other related Kv ion channel family members
Formatting of Nanobodies into multimeric constructs allows for improved potency, duration of action and drug half-life
Potent channel inhibition using electrophysiological assays and in vitro functional human primary T cell assays
Nanobodies with different modes of action in electrophysiology assays can be combined to yield new phenotypic profiles
In vivo proof-of-concept with anti-Kv1.3 Nanobodies in a rat delayed-type hypersensitivity inflammation model
Shortly after the presentations, the presentation and the posters will be available on Ablynx’s corporate website. The titles for the presentations are as follows:
1. “Nanobodies against difficult targets: Tackling ion channels” (Oral Presentation; Thursday, 19 June)
2. “Development of highly potent and selective anti-Kv1.3 Nanobodies that operate through allosteric modulation” (Poster Presentation; Thursday, 19 June)
3. “Characterization of anti-Kv1.3 Nanobodies and activity in inflammatory model systems” (Poster Presentation; Tuesday, 25 June)
4. “Formatting flexibility of Nanobodies is ideally suited for ion channels: Kv1.3 case study” (Poster Presentation; Tuesday, 25 June)
Further details on the meetings can be found at: cha-meetings.com and aurorabiomed.com
Dr Tony De Fougerolles, CSO of Ablynx, said:
“We are delighted with the potency and exquisite specificity we have demonstrated with our anti-Kv1.3 Nanobodies, something that has historically been difficult to achieve with other drug modalities such as small molecules and peptide-based toxins. The Kv1.3 ion channel represents an important target in inflammatory disease as it helps control ion influx required for activation of T lymphocytes, and we are encouraged by demonstration of in vivo proof-of-concept for these Nanobodies in a rat inflammatory model. Our in-house work with Kv1.3 builds on our previous success with ion channels, such as P2X7, and is one of several ion channel programmes Ablynx is actively pursuing both internally and with partners such as Merck.”
About Ablynx’ expertise in ion channels
Ablynx has already demonstrated modulation of ion channel activity in electrophysiology assays and has
identified functional Nanobodies against both voltage-gated and ligand-gated ion channels. Nanobodies
can be generated to have either an agonistic (enhancing) or antagonistic (blocking) effect... |
