Apitope Begins Graves' Disease Drug Preclinical Studies
Apitope has announced that it has begun preclinical studies on its Grave’s disease drug candidate, ATX-GD-459. ATX-GD-459 is classified as a peptide therapy. Apitope is a drug discovery and development company that primarily focuses on autoimmune and allergic diseases. Over 7.5 million people around the globe suffer from Graves’ disease, which is an autoimmune disorder.
The ATX-GD-459 drug works by stimulating antibodies against the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor that leads to Graves’ disease. Since Graves’ disease is associated with an over productive thyroid hormone caused by auto-reactive T and B lymphocytes targeting the primary auto-antigen, antibodies that limit the activation of thyroid cells can curb the effects of the disease. Patients suffering from Graves’ disease usually have an increased heart rate, goiter, muscle weakness, difficulty sleeping, and issues with the heart, circulatory and nervous systems. In the long term, Graves’ disease increases morbidity. Graves’ disease can also threaten the sight of patients, with between 30-50 percent of patients developing Graves’ orbitopathy, which manifests itself as bulging eyes.
Dr. Keith Martin, CEO of Apitope, commented on the preclinical studies. “Apitope is developing innovative products based on therapeutic peptides to treat a range of life-threatening autoimmune and allergic diseases, including rare conditions. We are delighted to progress the development of these innovative peptides which have the potential to help Graves' disease patients. We now have seven programs in clinical, preclinical development, and discovery as we continue to maximize the potential of our innovative discovery platform,” he stated.
Professor David Wraith, Chief Scientific Officer and company founder, echoed the sentiments. Wraith stated that the company’s drug discovery platform has been successful at identifying potentially groundbreaking drugs that could help to treat patients in the short term. He added that the development “validates further the scientific basis of our approach.”