ImmunoQure AG announces publication in Cell of naturally occurring patient-derived autoantibodies that limit human diseases

Düsseldorf (ots) - ImmunoQure AG, a German biotechnology company
focused on the development of autoantibodies as therapeutics to treat
common human diseases today announced the publication of data in the
leading scientific journal Cell, demonstrating that such therapeutics
can limit a variety of common human diseases. ImmunoQure's focus is
the identification and development of antibodies derived from an
ultra rare patient population with an autoimmune disorder called
autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 1 (APS1 or APECED).

APS1/APECED is caused by monogenic defect in the autoimmune
regulator gene (AIRE) that leads to a catastrophic destruction in
central tolerance, characterized by the escape of naïve T cells
targeting self-proteins from negative thymic selection. These
auto-reactive T cells enable B cells to develop and subsequently
generate highly matured self-reactive antibodies. Such self-reactive
antibodies should put the APS1/APECED patients at severe risk of
developing a myriad of autoimmune diseases, including type 1
diabetes, multiple sclerosis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. This
is, however, not the case. ImmunoQure's scientists - together with a
collaborative group of academic researchers and clinicians, show that
naturally occurring autoantibodies might indeed have disease
ameliorating properties in APS1/APECED patients. Furthermore, they
show that on average each patient has autoantibodies targeting almost
100 proteins, but because each patient has a different autoantibody
repertoire, a collection of 80 patients has autoantibodies targeting
almost one fifth of the human proteome.

The publication demonstrates that beneficial properties of
autoantibodies targeting multiple cytokines and Type I interferons
are directly transferable from patients to preclinical models of
disease and consequently can be considered to be ideal therapeutic
candidates for clinical development. As a result of their human
origin and the complexity of the epitopes that the autoantibodies
bind to, these drug candidates are safe, efficacious and have been
specifically designed & optimized by the human immune system to
perform highly defined functions.

Professor Hayday, co-founder of ImmunoQure and Professor of
Immunology at King's College, London added: 'This is very significant
because antibodies make up one of the largest sectors of the
pharmaceutical market, and one of the great quests in the
pharmaceutical industry is to be able to routinely generate
antibodies against human proteins implicated in diseases. Rather than
committing immense resources and expense to drug discovery, which is
at best a very uncertain path, the findings suggest a route to drug
recovery, in which naturally arising highly efficacious
autoantibodies can be isolated from patients whose clinical
information guides us as to the diseases most likely to benefit from
drugs derived from those antibodies.' Besides positioning these human
antibodies as therapeutics per se, ImmunoQure will also leverage
their specific characteristics and special profiles as building
blocks to design and engineer novel immunotherapeutics, from
bispecific antibodies, to chimeric antibodies or antigen receptors,
and antibody drug conjugates.

To access the Cell publication, please follow this link:
http://ots.de/0YnMi

See also: http://ots.de/2Mgz4

About ImmunoQure AG

ImmunoQure was founded by a consortium of leading researchers from
the Universities of Tartu, Estonia and Helsinki Finland, King's
College, London UK, the APECED patient support charity APECED Oy and
HS LifeSciences, Düsseldorf, Germany. ImmunoQure is financed by
QureInvest II (SCS) SICAR, a specialist European life sciences
entrepreneurial investment fund advised by HS LifeSciences GmbH,
Düsseldorf, Germany.

For more information:
ImmunoQure AG
Edward Stuart, PhD
Chairman of Board
+49 (0)171 4091427
edward.stuart@hs-lifesciences.com