07/20/11

Positive Study Results with Drug Compound MP1031 Promise New Therapeutic Options

Zurich / Berlin, July 20. 2011.

Currently, there is no adequately effective drug available to treat life-threatening inflammatory diseases like pneumonia and sepsis. TNF-alpha blockers have being tested in recent years as one alternative, but these biotechnologically produced binding-proteins and antibodies are prone to serious side effects and are very costly.

MetrioPharm AG has now released results of an experimental study on the efficacy of its lead anti-inflammatory drug compound MP1031. These results give rise to hopes, that MP1031 may become a more effective alternative to anti-TNF-alpha biologicals. As a small-molecular synthetic compound, MP1031 shows much less side effects and is less costly than the current breed of anti-TNF biologicals.

The new results, presented by MetrioPharm demonstrate the ability of MP1031 to very effectively control the severe inflammatory reactions in a widely accepted standard model (i.e. LPS induced cytokine induction) or this condition. The unique ability of MP1031 to effectively control all major mediators of a inflammation, like the cytokines TNF-alpha and Interleukin-6, sets the drug apart from TNF-alpha blockers, which only inhibit a single cytokine at a time. Currently the market for highly potent anti-inflammatory drugs is dominated by the TNF-alpha blockers. MetrioPharm expects MP1031 to carve a significant share out of this 20 billion dollar market in the future.

“The development of new, effective drugs against TNF-alpha and other inflammatory cytokines represents a milestone for the many patients who can’t use biological TNF-alpha blockers due to their side effects”, said Wolfgang Brysch, president and chief scientific officer of MetrioPharm, commenting on the new study. “Even we were surprised by how unequivocal the data turned out. The parallel inhibition of both TNF-alpha and IL-6 could translate into a clear advantage over current TNF-alpha blockers.”