BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
ASIT biotech (Paris:ASIT) (BSE:ASIT) (Euronext: ASIT - BE0974289218), a Belgian biopharmaceutical company specialising in allergy immunotherapy, is today announcing that it has identified, as part of a collaborative programme with Imperial College London, a new product candidate hdm-ASIT+™ for the treatment of house dust mite allergy.
The new product candidate was selected among four prototypes designed from the ASIT+™ platform, on the basis of the results of the ex vivo tests carried out by the team of Prof. Mohamed Shamji (Imperial College London) on the blood cells of allergic patients. This selection was initiated in October 2017 following the phase I/II follow-up study carried out with the first product candidate.
Like the pnt-ASIT+™ product candidate, recently selected for the development of a peanut allergy treatment, the new product candidate hdm-ASIT+™ is a mixture of natural peptides with an immunological signature comparable to that of the gp-ASIT+™ product candidate (allergy to grass pollens), which has demonstrated, in a first phase III clinical trial, its ability to rapidly trigger the natural regulatory mechanisms for the allergic reaction.
Prof. Mohamed Shamji, Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, said: “This new product candidate hdm-ASIT+™, for the treatment of allergy caused by house dust mites, was selected with the new ex vivo screening method on blood cells from allergic patients that we have developed in collaboration with ASIT biotech. Based on the results obtained at this stage, I believe that this new product has the adequate immunological properties to stimulate the natural regulatory mechanisms for the allergic reaction induced by house dust mites.”
Thierry Legon, CEO of ASIT biotech, concluded: “We are delighted that our collaboration with Imperial College London has enabled us to identify, within a few months, two new clinical candidates: pnt-ASIT+™ for peanut allergy and hdm-ASIT+™ for house dust mite allergy. These studies also allowed us to understand why our first product candidate had a suboptimal immunological profile. All these results further prove the versatility of our technology platform and its ability to generate, on a strong scientific basis, product candidates for the immunotherapy of allergies with high unmet medical need. Eventually, this new product candidate could provide an effective, well tolerated treatment solution for millions of patients suffering from house dust mite allergy.”
About house dust mite allergy
Dust mites are microscopic organisms that feed on house dust and moisture in the air. They are among the most common indoor allergens, and symptoms can arise all year round. As well as allergic rhinitis, dust mite allergy can also trigger asthma and eczema flare-ups. In addition, the incidence and prevalence of respiratory allergies is increasing every year, all around the world. In Europe, 23% of people suffer from allergic rhinitis and 52.5% of those people suffer from dust mite allergy, i.e. 12% of the European Union population1.
About ASIT biotech
ASIT biotech is a Belgian clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and future commercialization of a range of breakthrough immunotherapy products for the treatment of allergies. Thanks to its innovative ASIT+™ technology platform, ASIT biotech is currently the only developer of allergy immunotherapy (AIT) product candidates consisting of a unique mixture of highly purified natural allergen fragments in an optimal size selection. This innovation results in a short treatment, expected to improve patient compliance and real-life effectiveness. ASIT biotech’s product pipeline contains three novel ASIT+™ product candidates targeting respiratory allergies with the highest prevalence (i.e. grass pollen: gp-ASIT+™ and house dust mite: hdm-ASIT+™), and food allergies (peanut allergy: pnt-ASIT+™). These products could significantly expand the current immunotherapy market. The Company believes that its innovative ASIT+™ platform is flexible and would be applicable across a range of allergies.
ASIT biotech has a headcount of 26 staff members at its headquarters in Brussels and a laboratory in Liège, Belgium.
Further information can be found at www.asitbiotech.com.
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1 Sources :
https://acaai.org/allergies/types/dust-allergy
Bauchau
V & Durham SR. Prevalence and rate of diagnosis of allergic rhinitis in
Europe. Eur Respir J. 2004 Nov 24 (5):758-64: