Benzinga | Jun 2, 2021 04:06PM EDT

Alpine Immune Sciences Says Presents ALPN-303 Data During 2021 EULAR Virtual Meeting

Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALPN), a leading clinical-stage immunotherapy company focused on developing innovative treatments for cancer and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, today made an oral presentation of preclinical data from the company's ALPN-303 program at the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) European Congress of Rheumatology Virtual Meeting, entitled "ALPN-303, an Enhanced, Potent Dual BAFF/APRIL Antagonist Engineered by Directed Evolution for the Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and Other B Cell-Related Autoimmune Diseases."

Presentation highlights include:

* ALPN-303 inhibited the activity of the B cell cytokines APRIL and BAFF more potently than wild-type TACI-Fc counterparts, as well as an anti-BAFF antibody.

* ALPN-303 exhibited superior preclinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics than wild-type TACI-Fc counterparts, including superior serum exposure, suppression of T-dependent antibody production, and/or serum immunoglobulins in mice and/or cynomolgus monkeys. In a mouse model of lupus, ALPN-303 treatment significantly suppressed anti-double stranded DNA antibody titers, inflammation in the kidneys (glomerulonephritis) and salivary glands (sialadenitis), while preserving renal function and improving survival. "We're particularly excited by these findings," commented Dr. Stanford Peng, Alpine's President and Head of Research and Development. "There continues to be significant interest in novel therapeutics that target the APRIL and BAFF pathways, and these data suggest that ALPN-303 may be superior for the treatment of severe diseases like lupus. We hope to initiate its first-in-human study later this year." This oral presentation is live on the EULAR congress website at https://congress.eular.org/ A copy of the oral presentation slides are available on the Scientific Publications page of Alpine's website.