Dr. Alan Kivitz to Chair XBiotech’s Natrunix Program in Rheumatoid Arthritis

(Phase II Multicenter Study is Proceeding Well with High Anticipation)

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XBiotech (NASDAQ: XBIT) today announced that Alan Kivitz M.D. is now Lead Investigator & Study Chairman for its clinical research program for Natrunix in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

XBiotech believes Natrunix will be a breakthrough therapy for rheumatological diseases. The company has now enrolled about 33% of the 210 patients it is recruiting for a Phase II, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized study, examining Natrunix in combination with methotrexate for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. There are presently about 25 clinical trial sites across the United States that are participating in the study. Dr. Kivitz, who is actively treating subjects at his clinic in Altoona, Pennsylvanian commented, “Despite all the breakthroughs in our ability to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis there continues to be an unmet need for some patients with this disease. I am excited to be part of a clinical trial program studying a novel approach to RA.”

Dr. Kivitz has had a prodigious medical career treating arthritis and rheumatic diseases. He received his medical degree from Albany Medical College, New York, trained in internal medicine at the North Shore University Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer in New York and then completed rheumatology studies at Albany Medical College. Dr. Kivitz has authored over 500 research articles, abstracts, and clinical studies relating to osteoarthritis, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis and has lectured on his findings around the world. Dr. Kivitz has served on advisory boards for major drug developers, including AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Pfizer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi-Genzyme, Takeda, and UCB. Above all Dr. Kivitz is focused on finding new approaches to treat arthritis and rheumatic disorders.

John Simard, President and CEO of XBiotech commented, “We are honored to have Dr. Kivitz chair this study for which we are eagerly anticipating results.”

Nearly forty-years ago investigators began to describe a key role for interleukin-1 in cartilage destruction and disease progression in arthritis and degenerative arthropathies^1.2 Indeed finding biological therapies to target interleukin-1 was an initial impetus for the nascent biotechnology industry in the late 1980s. But confusion over the nature of the interleukin-1 meant that therapies designed to target its activity failed to hit the mark for all potential disease indications.