PARIS and BOSTON, May 04, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Neovacs (Alternext Paris:ALNEV), a leader in active immunotherapies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, today announced that Thérèse Croughs, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of Neovacs, will present an update on the clinical development of the Company’s IFNα Kinoid in dermatomyositis at the 2nd World Conference on Myositis, to be held May 5-8, 2017, in Potomac, Maryland, USA.
Dr. Thérèse Croughs will present a poster titled: "Overexpression of IFNα and Derived Diseases: Innovative Approach with a Kinoid IFNα Therapeutic Vaccine" on Sunday, May 7th, from 10.35 am to 1.30 pm ET. This presentation will outline the way Neovacs is developing its IFNα Kinoid therapeutic vaccine, in order to treat the overexpression of IFNα in dermatomyositis.
Neovacs’ Phase IIa clinical study in dermatomyositis is currently ongoing. This multicentric study includes 30 adult patients in Europe (France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland) and aims to evaluate the immunogenicity, tolerance and biological and clinical efficacy of IFNα Kinoid. The results of this study, will provide data to support the design and execution of a pivotal study.
Miguel Sieler, Chief Executive Officer of Neovacs, said: "Based on the data generated to date, we believe our IFNα Kinoid has significant potential in multiple indications, including dermatomyositis. We are excited to provide an update on this program at this leading international scientific conference. In addition, we look forward to the availability of data from our ongoing Phase IIa clinical trial of IFNα Kinoid in dermatomyositis."
About the 2nd International Conference on Myositis
Created by Dr. Ingrid Lundberg to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations in research and accelerate the development of new clinical options, care and therapeutic modalities related to myositis, the first edition of the International Congress on Myositis was held in May 2015 in Stockholm. This second Global Conference on Myositis (GCOM 2017) is continuing this innovative series of international meetings aimed at bringing together all the world-renowned scientists and clinicians, creating connections and sharing knowledge. For more information: http://www.gcom-int.com/home.html
About Neovacs Technology
Neovacs targets pathologies associated with an overproduction of endogenous cytokines. This technology is based on active immunotherapy to generate an immune response through the administration of an immunogenic complex involving the target cytokine to a carrier protein. The intramuscular injection of this Kinoid induces an immune response and stimulates the production of polyclonal antibodies against the target cytokines. It is thus possible to block cytokine overproduction and its pharmacological effects. Several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases (lupus, dermatomyositis, type 1 diabetes ...) are characterized by a disorder of cytokines that are found produced in excess (ex: IFNα). This overproduction will promote inflammation and dysregulation of the immune system.
About Dermatomyositis
Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare, autoimmune and inflammatory disease characterized by severe skin lesions and muscle weakness with varying impact on physical abilities. Other systems may also be impacted (vascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal and cardiac). One in three adult patients with DM develops cancer within three years of the first manifestations of the disease. The DM affects mostly children. It is twice more common in women than in men. No biological treatment has so far been authorized in this indication. The prevalence of DM is between one case per 50 000 and one case per 10 000, conferring orphan disease status in Europe and the United States1. Neovacs thus estimates that IFNα-Kinoid could benefit from accelerated clinical development in DM due to the status of an orphan condition of this disease, allowing a market access in the next few years.
About Neovacs
Listed on Alternext Paris since 2010, Neovacs is today a leading biotechnology company focused on an active immunotherapy technology platform (Kinoids) with applications in autoimmune and/or inflammatory diseases. On the basis of the company’s proprietary technology for inducing a polyclonal immune response (covered by five patent families that potentially run until 2032) Neovacs is focusing its clinical development efforts on IFNα-Kinoid, an immunotherapy being developed for the indication of lupus and dermatomyositis. Neovacs is also conducting preclinical development works on other therapeutic vaccines in the fields of auto-immune diseases, oncology, allergies and Type 1 diabetes. The goal of the Kinoid approach is to enable patients to have access to safe treatments with efficacy that is sustained in these life-long diseases. www.neovacs.fr