The patents, among other aspects, broadly cover compositions of matter of the inflammation-targeting microfiber materials with embedded molecules of interest. The platform is being evaluated for use across a variety of diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and pain.
The now patented technology is designed to administer therapeutically-relevant molecules, such as small molecules, biologics (e.g., antibodies, peptides, and proteins), and nucleic acids, directly to site of inflammation, bypassing healthy tissue.
The Alivio technology is also engineered to respond dynamically to the disease site, releasing the embedded therapeutics based on the degree of inflammation present.
This novel approach has the potential to enable new paradigms for treating inflammatory disease – both orally and via other administration routes – while simultaneously minimizing the risks of exposing healthy tissue to potent immunomodulators.
The now patented technology is designed to administer therapeutically-relevant molecules, such as small molecules, biologics (e.g., antibodies, peptides, and proteins), and nucleic acids, directly to site of inflammation, bypassing healthy tissue.
The Alivio technology is also engineered to respond dynamically to the disease site, releasing the embedded therapeutics based on the degree of inflammation present. This novel approach has the potential to enable new paradigms for treating inflammatory disease – both orally and via other administration routes – while simultaneously minimizing the risks of exposing healthy tissue to potent immunomodulators.
“The USPTO’s allowance of these broad claims is an independent acknowledgment of the uniqueness of the technology and lays a strong foundation for our intellectual property portfolio,” said Aleks Radovic-Moreno, Ph.D., PureTech Health Vice President and Alivio program lead.
“Based on compelling preclinical data in several independent disease models, we are developing potentially important new drugs for a range of chronic and acute inflammatory diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, and interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome.”
The relevant intellectual property is exclusively licensed to Alivio Therapeutics and is based on technology developed by Jeffrey Karp, Ph.D., Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School (HMS), and Robert Langer, Sc.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The pioneering work of Dr. Karp, Dr. Langer, and their colleagues has demonstrated selective modulation of the immune system at the site of disease in relevant preclinical models using therapeutic agents embedded in the Alivio microfibers.
Alivio is now advancing this promising inflammation-targeting technology platform and building a robust pipeline with the goal of achieving targeted disease immunomodulation to address a number of targeted therapies for treating chronic and acute inflammatory diseases.
In April 2018, a preclinical study of Alivio’s technology platform was published in Nature Communications, demonstrating proof-of-concept that an immunomodulatory drug, administered locally using the Alivio technology, substantially reduced measures of arthritis disease activity, with a 5.7-fold improvement in the disease clinical score vs. control, as compared to only 1.4-fold for the free drug.
In July 2017, Alivio presented data for product candidate ALV-107 showing durable pain control throughout a 24-hour study period, lasting at least 12 times longer than lidocaine at a comparable dose, in a validated preclinical model for the treatment of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS).
Source: Company Press Release