Arcelis immunotherapy effective in treating autoimmune diseases: Study

Argos Therapeutics today announced that its Arcelis™ immunotherapy targeted at diabetes demonstrated potential for preventing and treating the disease in non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice, according to a peer-reviewed article published in Molecular Therapy (Creusot, R.J., et al.; doi:10.1038/mt.2010.146).

The study was based on a mouse model of type 1 diabetes that shares many similarities with human models to demonstrate the therapeutic effectiveness of dendritic cells electroporated (eDC) with translationally enhanced interleukin-4 (IL-4) messenger RNA, known as eDC/IL-4. A significant portion of mice receiving a single injection of eDC/IL-4 shortly after the onset of hyperglycemia were able to maintain stable glycemia for up to several months. The paper, titled "A Short Pulse of IL-4 Delivered by DCs Electroporated With Modified mRNA Can Both Prevent and Treat Autoimmune Diabetes in NOD Mice," was published online by Molecular Therapy on July 13.

"This study shows the promise for this type of immunotherapy as a viable, safe and effective treatment for autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes," said Charles Nicolette, Ph.D., chief scientific officer and vice president of research and development of Argos.

C. Garrison Fathman, M.D., senior author on the study, added, "This is the first demonstration of using RNA electroporation rather than viral vectors, which have been the method of choice to express IL-4 ectopically, but carry the risks of immunogenicity and oncogenicity.  We look forward to moving this safer, potentially efficacious therapy for type 1 diabetes into clinical trials."

SOURCE Argos Therapeutics