XBiotech Announces Cerebrovascular Medical Advisory Board & Development of New Stroke Therapy - Seite 2

Greg W. Albers, M.D. is a stroke and vascular neurologist and currently serves as the Director of the Stanford Stroke Center at Stanford Medical Center. Dr. Albers is a Coyote Foundation Professor and a Professor, by courtesy, of Neurosurgery and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University. Dr. Albers’ primary research focus is the diagnosis, management, and prevention of ischemic stroke. A prolific and distinguished researcher, he has authored more than 450 articles on topics related to cerebrovascular disease in peer-reviewed journals.

Brett L. Cucchiara M.D. is a Professor of Neurology and serves as the Director of the Neurovascular Ultrasound Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in cerebrovascular disease and has extensive experience in stroke clinical trials and biomarker research. Dr. Cucchiara is a member of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Brain reperfusion, or opening of the clogged artery, is the cornerstone of emergency treatment for ischemic stroke. However, opening of a clogged artery is associated with a rapid induction of inflammation where the returning blood supply downstream of the clogged artery begins to recirculate in the brain. The brain injury inflicted by the inflammation can be devastating. There is presently no approved drug to reduce injury from reperfusion. XBiotech previously announced a publication, in animal models of stroke, which described a significant reduction in brain injury when an IL-1⍺ neutralizing antibody was used to inhibit inflammation prior to unblocking of the clogged artery.

On December 30, 2019, XBiotech sold a True Human anti-inflammatory antibody in a $1.35 billion transaction. The Company has since worked vigorously to bring a new line of True Human anti-inflammatory therapies to the clinic in 2021. XBiotech is now developing a novel True Human antibody therapy that neutralizes interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1⍺) as a neuroprotectant. IL-1⍺ is a trigger in the onset of inflammation. When inflammation is deregulated, or in situations of acute injury, such as that which occurs after reperfusion (the resumption of blood flow after unblocking of an artery), IL-1⍺ enhances the inflammation that leads to worsening of the injury.