Benzinga | Aug 19, 2021 11:49AM EDT

Galmed's Anti-Inflammatory Compound Shows Encouraging Preclinical Action

* Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NASDAQ:GLMD) has announced the data publication for its preclinical compound, Amilo-5MER, in the Journal of Autoimmunity.

* Amilo-5MER is a five amino acid in a specific sequence originally isolated from synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis patients.

* Galmed says that the human peptide displays an efficient anti-inflammatory effect to ameliorate pathology and clinical symptoms in mouse models of RA, inflammatory bowel disease, and multiple sclerosis.

* The presumed MoA by which Amilo-5MER affects chronic inflammation by binding to Serum Amyloid A (SAA) and prevents activating immune cells for pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion.

* Studies have demonstrated that Amilo-5MER significantly inhibits the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-1? from SAA-activated human fibroblasts, THP-1 monocytes, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

* Amilo-5MER suppresses the pro-inflammatory IL-6 release from SAA-activated cells but not from non-activated cells providing selective anti-inflammatory properties.

* Price Action: GLMD shares are up 0.36% at $2.75 during the market session on the last check Thursday.