PIKAMAB secures exclusive rights to issued U.S. patent from UABRF

Jul 1 2010

PIKAMAB, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in stratified medicine, announced today that it has secured exclusive rights to an issued U.S. patent (US 6,986,987) from the UAB Research Foundation (UABRF). This patent pertains to the discovery that the functional polymorphism (Ser/Gly²⁴⁸) in the cytoplasmic domain of Fc alpha receptor (FcAR) determines the proinflammatory potential of serum IgA autoantibodies through cell signaling and production of cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-1β in an allele-dependent manner.

“Therefore, rational patient stratification approaches that take into consideration of the polymorphisms in FcAR and FcGRs (3A, 2A, 3B, and 2B) can provide a transformative framework to better understand the disease severity patterns and variations in treatment response in patients. Our theragnostic products provide just that framework”

"This IP is crucial to our strategy to develop the theragnostic products, RA Therasight^TM and Lupus Therasight^TM. These products will help guide the drug development process and patient treatment protocols for treating rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), respectively," commented Vijay Ramakrishnan, Ph.D., President and CEO of PIKAMAB.

"This is an important step forward in the application of human genetic variation(s) to stratified medicine," said Robert P. Kimberly, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Director of the Comprehensive Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Autoimmunity Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Kimberly is the inventor of this patent.

Serum IgA autoantibodies play significant roles in the pathogenesis and severity of several human inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, lupus nephritis, and IgA nephropathy. For instance, in SLE patients of both Caucasian and African American ethnicities, the proinflammatory Gly²⁴⁸ allele in FcAR is enriched. "This invention assumes greater significance given that FcAR is the cognate receptor for IgA antibodies, and that Gly²⁴⁸ allele correlates to the severity of the disease. This FcAR polymorphism is essential to understand the early onset, severity patterns, and progression of IgA-mediated autoimmune diseases," said Ramakrishnan.

In autoimmune disease settings, both IgA and IgG autoantibodies (and their immune complexes) play independent roles in modulating the immune responses. IgGs modulate immune responses through FcGRs. "Therefore, rational patient stratification approaches that take into consideration of the polymorphisms in FcAR and FcGRs (3A, 2A, 3B, and 2B) can provide a transformative framework to better understand the disease severity patterns and variations in treatment response in patients. Our theragnostic products provide just that framework," explained Ramakrishnan.

SOURCE PIKAMAB