DOD recommends funding for Neumedicines’ Phase I study of recombinant human interleukin-12

Neumedicines’ proposal, ‘Recombinant Interleukin-12, a Broad-Spectrum Biologic for the Treatment of Battle and Traumatic Wound Infections’, was submitted in response to the Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14) Defense Medical Research and Development Program (DMRDP) Military Infectious Diseases Clinical Trial Award (MID-CTA), which is solicited for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Defense Health Program (DHP), by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisitions Activity (USAMRAA).

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) plays a central role in linking and regulating both innate (early nonspecific) and adaptive (late specific) immunity while also playing a critical role in hematopoietic cell-to-cell signaling. IL-12’s role in cell-to-cell signaling of other adult stem cell populations, including those found in skin, is being investigated.

Neumedicines founder and CEO Dr Lena Basile noted that the company is extremely grateful for the DOD’s funding recommendation, encouraged by the response of their scientific review, and excited about the scientific and clinical implications of this R&D.

"rHuIL-12 has great promise as a treatment for wound healing and infection," Dr Basile added.

Under the trade name HemaMax, Neumedicines is also developing rHuIL-12 as a treatment for the hematopoietic syndrome of acute radiation syndrome (HSARS) and as a treatment for various indications in oncology, including cutaneous T cell lymphoma, acute myeloid leukemia, melanoma, solid tumors, various immunotherapy applications, and hematopoietic support.