University of Regensburg: SuppreMol obtains option to in-license antibody against interleukin 3

SuppreMol GmbH, a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, today announced that it has closed an agreement to in-license an antibody directed against interleukin 3 (IL-3), which has been developed by the Molecular Immunology research group led by Prof. Dr. Matthias Mack at the University of Regensburg.

IL-3, a growth factor primarily produced by activated T cells, stimulates growth and differentiation of monocytes, basophils and other leukocyte populations from the bone marrow in an immune response. Recently, the team of Prof. Mack was able to demonstrate that IL-3 plays an important role in the onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune disease characterized by a chronic inflammation of the joints and other organs affecting up to one percent of the population in the industrialized world. The disease commonly leads to significant disability and reduction in the quality of life and is connected with significant costs for patients and the health care systems.

Therapy with an antibody-based IL-3 inhibitor, either in early stages or during flares and exacerbations, may provide a new class of treatment for patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis.

“We believe this IL-3 antibody has the potential to complement our current projects, in particular with the perspective to expand our product portfolio to common auto-immune disease indications,” said Prof. Dr. Peter Buckel, CEO of SuppreMol. “The in-licensing is in line with our strategy to strengthen the company’s development pipeline and its intellectual property base.”

The agreement was closed with Bayerische Patentallianz GmbH, the central patent and marketing agency of 28 Bavarian universities and universities of applied sciences.