Immutep Appoints Leading Research Institute to Conduct First-in-Human Phase I Study of IMP761 - Seite 2

Matthijs Moerland, Ph.D., CHDR’s Research Director Immunology and Principal Investigator for the upcoming trial, said, “It is an honour for us to run the first clinical study with IMP761. We’re very excited to be partnering with Immutep for this critical step in the development plan of their promising antibody. We are confident that CHDR’s unique neoantigen KLH challenge model will help define and measure by dose levels its pharmacological activity in man.”

Immune checkpoint agonists, including LAG-3, PD-1, and CTLA-4, are increasingly gaining recognition in the healthcare industry for their inherent ability to treat autoimmune diseases.¹ In numerous scientific publications, LAG-3 has been identified as a promising target for agonist immunotherapy for autoimmune disorders including rheumatoid arthritis, Type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis, among others.^2,3,4

IMP761 is uniquely positioned as the world’s first immunosuppressive LAG-3 agonist antibody. It may address numerous autoimmune diseases by silencing self-antigen-specific memory T cells, which accumulate at disease sites, and preventing their overactivation. This is accomplished through enhancing LAG-3’s natural downregulation of auto-reactive memory T cells. IMP761 remains on target to enter the clinic mid-CY2024 and Immutep looks forward to providing more information as it approaches this important milestone.

About IMP761
IMP761, a first-in-class immunosuppressive LAG-3 agonist antibody, has the potential to address the root cause of many autoimmune diseases by specifically silencing autoimmune memory T cells that accumulate at disease sites and restoring balance to the immune system. As published in the Journal of Immunology, encouraging pre-clinical in vivo and in vitro studies show IMP761 inhibits peptide-induced T cell proliferation, activation of human primary T cells, and an antigen-specific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction. Additional preclinical data in oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (o-JIA) published in Pediatric Research details how IMP761 led to a decrease in a broad spectrum of effector cytokines in just 48 hours. This study also showed children with o-JIA have a skewed LAG-3 metabolism and suggested they can benefit from agonistic LAG-3 activity.