MedImmune advances clinical development of antibody targeting interleukin-9 in patients with asthma

Mar 19 2008

MedImmune has announced that its clinical program studying an investigational treatment targeting interleukin-9 (IL-9) has advanced with the start of a new trial in patients with asthma.

The company initiated a Phase 2a clinical trial designed to assess the potential of its anti-IL-9 monoclonal antibody (MAb), MEDI-528, in patients with stable asthma and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. This trial is the fourth study of this antibody in patients with asthma.

"Commencing this trial is a promising step in the clinical development of MEDI-528, as preclinical data has suggested that blocking IL-9 may provide clinical benefit for patients with asthma," said Barbara White, vice president, clinical development, inflammatory disease. "We look forward to continuing to work with our network of collaborative researchers to discover and assess novel pathologies and approaches to inflammatory diseases."

The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the safety and tolerability of multiple fixed escalating doses of MEDI-528 in adult patients with stable asthma and exercise-induced bronchoconstriction. The study will also assess the effect of the antibody on exercise challenge testing, as well as the pharmacokinetics and immunogenicity of the investigational treatment. Enrollment of this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial has commenced at Northeast Medical Research Associates, Inc. and the study is expected to expand to additional sites throughout the United States and Canada. Preliminary safety results from an ongoing Phase 2 trial support the continued development of the antibody in patients with mild-to-moderate asthma.

IL-9 has been associated with symptoms of asthma. It is one of at least 29 naturally occurring interleukins in the human body. Overexpression of IL-9 in animal models has been shown to result in many features of asthma, including increased airway inflammation and hyperreactivity. Blocking the actions of IL-9 has been shown to reduce the increased airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness seen in animal models of asthma. MedImmune is conducting research to evaluate the potential to use MAbs targeting IL-9 to treat or prevent symptomatic, moderate-to-severe, persistent asthma.

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