SuppreMol wins €1M grant for university collaborations in autoimmune diseases

Development grant

German spin-out SuppreMol GmbH has been awarded research funding of €1 million from the federal program KMU-Innovativ by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The funding will allow the company to explore the therapeutic potential of its lead product, SM101, in autoimmune diseases and to develop novel diagnostic tools to stratify patients with multiple sclerosis.

At present, SM101 is being developed for the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an autoimmune disease characterised by a low count of thrombocytes. A Phase I trial in about 42 male volunteers to assess the safety and tolerability of intravenously administered SM101 is ongoing, with final results expected in early 2010. In parallel, the company has filed for a Phase Ib/IIa trial in the disease which is scheduled to start by the end of 2009.

The grant will enable Munich-based SuppreMol, a spin-off from the nearby Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Germany, to explore additional formulations of SM101 for subcutaneous and pulmonal administration, as well as novel indications, such as systemic lupus erythematosus. This research is performed in close collaboration with the Institute for Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics of the University of Munich.

A second project covered by the grant focuses on the development and evaluation of a new assay for the stratification of B-cell dependent multiple sclerosis patients. This diagnostic tool could help to significantly reduce treatment costs in the disease. The project is a collaboration between SuppreMol and the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Munich.

“We are very pleased about the funding,” commented Peter Buckel, CEO of SuppreMol. “It will enable us to develop new marketing opportunities for SM101, in novel indications and by improving the administration of SM101 so that it can be applied by general practitioners, or the patients themselves. In addition, it will help us to develop a diagnostic tool to identify patients with multiple sclerosis who might be eligible for treatment with SM101.”

SM101 is addresses a very general mechanism involved in the onset of most autoimmune diseases and is expected to have potential in treating a broad range of disorders. It is a recombinant, soluble, non-glycosylated version of the Fc-receptor FcγRIIb, which binds to autoantibody/autoantigen complexes and blocks the triggering of Fc-receptors on the surface of immune cells. As a result, the immune response is down regulated and the activation of the inflammation cascade typically seen in autoimmune diseases is prevented.

In 2007, the European Commission granted orphan medicinal product designation for SM101 in treating idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

SuppreMol was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from the laboratory of Robert Huber, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1988, The company has raised €19.7 million in two financing rounds since May 2006 and received a €4.2 million grant for Innovative Therapeutics from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research in March 2007.