Development of a first-in-class complement inhibitor for treating complement-mediated hematologic diseases

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R61 · $563,500 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

ABSTRACT Excessive complement activation causes many diseases especially hematologic diseases such as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), in which patient erythrocytes are attacked by activated complement, causing extravascular and intravascular hemolysis, thus anemia, thrombosis, and other life-threatening complications. Several complement inhibitors have been approved by the FDA for treating these disorders with limited success, thus there is still a clinical demand for better complement-targeted therapeutics. In pilot studies, we have developed a novel nanobody-based complement inhibitor and demonstrated its potential in treating complement-mediated hematologic diseases. In this project, we will develop additional novel complement inhibitors and thoroughly characterize them (R61 Phase), then examine the lead candidate in preclinical models of PNH and AIHA for its treatment efficacies and pharmacokinetics profiles (R33 Phase). This project, if successful, will identify a promising first-in-class complement inhibitor for further clinical development into a much-needed new drug for patients with complement-mediated diseases such as PNH and AIHA.

Key facts

NIH application ID
10990215
Project number
1R61HL171747-01A1
Recipient
CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU
Principal Investigator
FENG C LIN
Activity code
R61
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2024
Award amount
$563,500
Award type
1
Project period
2024-09-05 → 2026-07-31