Novel Anti-glycan Antibodies for Treatment of Inflammatory Disease

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are chronic, debilitating and multi-factorial inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) resulting from abnormal mucosal immune responses. The initiating events and mechanisms that sustain inflammation in IBD are not well defined.

Recent work by Hudson Freeze's laboratory at the Burnham Institute identified novel, previously unknown glycans on certain immune cell receptors that bind to inflammatory mediators and drive inflammation. Preventing these receptor/mediator interactions with glycan-specific antibodies showed the ability to block the onset of IBD or reverse its early-stage progression in animal models. This research could represent a new approach to selectively target and eliminate only those immune cells responsible for driving inflammation, something that current therapies cannot do.

Beyond IBD, these specific glycans could be involved in other inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus erythematosus, diabetic complications, psoriasis and possibly cancer.

RCT is supporting a plan to further develop this antibody for human therapeutic use.

Inventor/Founder

Hudson H. Freeze, Ph. D., and Geetha Srikrishna, Ph.D., Burnham Institute for Medical Research, La Jolla, Calif., and Ajit Varki, M.D., and Nissi Varki, M.D., University of California, San Diego

RCT Contact

Kurt Gehlsen, Ph.D., RCT Vice President and CSO

Related Web Sites

Burnham Institute for Medical Research
University of California, San Diego