MP1000

Our target: inflammatory macrophages

MP1000 constitutes a class of small molecular anti-inflammatory drugs that act via a novel mechanism of action. The primary target of drugs from our MP1000 class are activated (inflammatory) macrophages. Macrophages are central regulators of the immune and inflammatory response. These cells have often been described as the “conductors” of the immune response. They regulate and orchestrate the reaction of other immune cells to an assault by pathogens (bacteria, viruses), tissue damage or auto-immune reactions. 

Current research of cellular mechanisms of inflammation points to over-activated macrophages as key mediators of pathologies and tissue damage in a wide array of conditions such as:

  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • Auto-Immune Diseases
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease
  • Severe Infections – Sepsis, ARDS
  • Psoriasis
  • COPD
  • Hepatitis B&C
  • Conjunctivitis
  • Atherosclerotic Lesions

MP1000

Compounds from the MP1000 class of molecules have the unique ability to down-regulate highly activated macrophages towards a less activated state. This leads to a down-modulation of pathologic inflammatory responses, which are the driving force behind a number of diseases.
MP1000 molecules have been shown to effectively down-regulate a range of pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-1, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha in highly activated macrophages to a level, where a physiologic healing response can set in at the site of inflammation. This type of down-modulation has the advantage over the singular blockade of individual cytokines like TNF-alpha via biologicals (i.e. antibodies) that it avoids the serious side effects of complete cytokine blockade.

A member of this compound class has already been used successfully in a number of clinical settings in over 200,000 patients without apparent safety issues. Experimental data suggest a very high safety margin, which is unusual compared to most other immune modulatory drugs.

Our R&D program is currently geared to further elucidate the potential of MP1000 compounds in a variety of pathological models.

MP1000