Both treatment naïve and treatment refractory individuals experienced improved visual acuity
SAN CARLOS, Calif., — Alkahest Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing transformative therapies to treat age-related diseases, today announced top-line data from two Phase 2 studies of AKST4290 (formerly ALK4290) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). AKST4290 was found to be safe and well tolerated, with gains in visual acuity for both treatment naïve and treatment refractory patient groups.
“Current treatments for wAMD involve regular intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF therapies, which can be costly and present adherence challenges. These challenges often result in undertreatment,” said Jonas Hannestad, M.D. Ph.D., Vice President of Clinical Development at Alkahest. “These early results demonstrate the feasibility of using an oral agent to provide a conveniently administered treatment option for patients suffering from wAMD. We look forward to providing additional data from these studies at upcoming medical conferences and pursuing additional trials to confirm these results.”
The AKST4290-201 study is a Phase 2a clinical trial designed to evaluate the therapeutic effects and safety of a six-week oral treatment regimen of AKST4290 in patients with newly diagnosed wAMD who are naïve to any treatment. The AKST4290-202 study is a parallel Phase 2a clinical trial designed to evaluate the therapeutic effects and safety of the same treatment regimen in patients with refractory wet AMD no longer responding to anti-VEGF therapy. The majority of patients across both studies experienced improvement in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and there were no severe or serious adverse events reported.
About AKST4290
AKST4290 is an orally administered CCR3 inhibitor that blocks the action of eotaxin, an immunomodulatory protein that increases as humans age. By targeting eotaxin and its downstream effects, AKST4290 may slow the hallmark inflammation and neovascularization of wet AMD and other age-related diseases. Alkahest acquired AKST4290 from Boehringer-Ingelheim and has exclusive rights for development and commercialization worldwide.
About Alkahest
Alkahest is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to treating neurodegenerative and age-related diseases with transformative therapies targeting the aging plasma proteome. The Alkahest pipeline includes multiple therapeutic candidates ranging from selected plasma fractions to protein-targeted interventions, which aim to slow the detrimental biological processes of aging. Alkahest is developing novel plasma-based therapies in collaboration with Barcelona, Spain-based Grifols, a global healthcare company and leading producer of plasma therapeutics. For further information see www.alkahest.com or follow us on Twitter.
Contact Information
Elizabeth Jeffords
Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer
Alkahest, Inc.
ejeffords@alkahest.com
Media Contact
Michael Tattory
LifeSci Public Relations
mtattory@lifescipublicrelations.com