Consortium starts work on recombinant alkaline phosphatase

Partnership

Three of Europe’s life science companies are joining forces to develop a recombinant form of human alkaline phosphatase for use in treating rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic autoimmune diseases.

Alloksys Life Sciences BV of Bunnik, the Netherlands, CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH of Cologne, Germany, and PharmaCell BV of Maastricht, the Netherlands, have come together under Theraptech, a €2.4 million project subsidised by the European Trans Bio Programme.

The objective is to develop a recombinant human alkaline phosphatase using a human CAP cell line, which has been shown to efficiently express glycosylated proteins. Human alkaline phosphatase produced in CAP cells is expected to have an improved pharmacokinetic and safety profile, allowing for repeated dosing in chronic diseases.

Given the anti-inflammatory interaction of alkaline phosphatase with cytokines including TNFa, IL-6 and IL-8, as shown in both pre-clinical and clinical studies in acute conditions, the protein is expected to be effective in treating chronic autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

The combined expertise of the consortium covers the entire spectrum of activities needed to drive the project from molecular biology to GMP production and testing in preclinical and clinical trials. The aim is to reach Phase II clinical trials within the 3-year-time frame of the project.

PharmaCell’s CEO, Maurice Horsten said “Combining the strengths of our companies provides us with an excellent opportunity [….] to push this important project forward to the benefit of many patients around the world.”