Kiadis reports encouraging data from bone marrow transplantations study

Netherlands-based biopharmaceutical company Kiadis Pharma has reported promising preliminary clinical data on Atir showing its potential in mismatched bone marrow transplantations.

The clinical results from 19 end stage blood cancer patients with high risk leukemia and/or lymphoma using Atir was very well received. These patients, each of whom did not have a matched donor available, were treated in a Phase I/II dose escalating study with Atir in a mismatched transplantation setting. No immune suppressants were used, which is in contrast to conventional transplant procedures. Nevertheless, no cases of severe grade III/IV acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) occurred after Atir infusion, said Kiadis.

Furthermore, the clinical data showed a reduction in the frequency of infectious episodes in the cohorts treated with the higher doses of Atir, as compared to the low dose cohorts. To date, patients in the higher dose cohorts show high survival rates (75%) with no transplant related mortality.

These results show that the selective depletion of allo-reactive T-cells in the Atir cell based product by the proprietary photo-sensitizing agent TH9402 is highly effective and can result in fast and adequate immune reconstitution in combination with the prevention of acute GVHD in bone marrow transplantations using a mismatched donor, the company said.

Manja Bouman, CEO of Kiadis Pharma, says: On the basis of these highly encouraging results we are currently preparing for a multinational registration study with Atir in mismatched transplantation procedures.