Momenta Pharmaceuticals Announces Publication Revealing Development of a Novel Process to Generate High-Quality Hyper-sialyla...
March 02 2015 - 3:34PM
Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:MNTA), a biotechnology
company specializing in the characterization and engineering of
complex drugs, today announced that results from preclinical
studies on its hyper-sialylated IVIg (hsIVIg) program were
published in this week's Early Edition of Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The article summarizes
Momenta's progress in creating a hsIVIg drug candidate with the
potential for more consistent and enhanced anti-inflammatory
activity compared to the current IVIg therapy used to treat
inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
"These studies demonstrate the important progress we have made
in translating the concept of the anti-inflammatory properties of
Fc-sialylation into a potential therapeutic alternative to current
IVIg therapy," said Ganesh Kaundinya, Ph.D., Chief Scientific
Officer of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. "The preclinical data from
these studies indicate that hsIVIg can provide consistent, enhanced
anti-inflammatory activity up to ten-fold higher than IVIg in
animal models of diseases such as arthritis, immune
thrombocytopenia (ITP) and skin blistering diseases. We look
forward to identifying the right partner to advance what we believe
to be the first hyper-sialylated product candidate with the
potential for use in the clinic."
IVIg therapy has demonstrated beneficial therapeutic effects and
is often used as a last line of defense in many severe inflammatory
diseases. Although efficacious in these diseases, inconsistent
efficacy and potency remain as major limitations for patients and
physicians using IVIg. The identification of the important
anti-inflammatory role of Fc-sialylation has presented the
opportunity to develop a more potent alternative therapy to IVIg;
however, translating this finding into a more potent
anti-inflammatory product has been hampered by the difficulty of
generating sialylated products suitable for clinical use. Momenta
utilized its expertise in the characterization and engineering of
complex biologics to develop a robust and scalable process to
generate a hyper-sialylated IVIg drug candidate for potential
clinical development.
The article is entitled "Controlled Tetra-Fc Sialylation of IVIg
Results in a Drug Candidate with Consistent Enhanced
Anti-inflammatory Activity" and is available at
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1422481112.
About Hyper-sialylated IVIg (hsIVIg)
Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), a mixture of human
immunoglobulin antibodies prepared from pooled human plasma, is
used to treat primary immunodeficiencies as well as a wide variety
of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Despite its therapeutic
benefits, IVIg preparations have limitations such as variable
efficacy, limited potency, clinical risks, high costs, patient
inconvenience and finite supply. Momenta has created a robust and
scalable process to generate a hyper-sialylated IVIg drug candidate
called hsIVIg. Preclinical studies show that Momenta's hsIVIg drug
candidate provides more consistent and potent anti-inflammatory
activity and thus may have the potential to serve as a valuable
therapeutic alternative to IVIg for the treatment of autoimmune and
inflammatory diseases.
About Momenta Momenta Pharmaceuticals is a
biotechnology company specializing in the detailed structural and
functional analysis of complex drugs and is headquartered in
Cambridge, MA. Momenta is applying its technology to the
development of generic versions of complex drugs, biosimilar and
potentially interchangeable biologics, and to the discovery and
development of novel therapeutics for oncology and autoimmune
indications.
To receive additional information about Momenta, please visit
the website at www.momentapharma.com, which does not form a part of
this press release. The company's logo, trademarks, and service
marks are the property of Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All other
trade names, trademarks, or service marks are property of their
respective owners.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements Statements in this press release regarding
management's expectations, beliefs, intentions, goals, strategies,
plans or prospects, including statements about future clinical
studies and clinical study results for hsIVIg and partnering the
hsIVIg program, are forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements can sometimes be identified by words
such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "hope,"
"target," "project," "goal," "objective," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "might," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "seek",
"should," "target," "will," "would," "look forward" and other
similar words or expressions, or the negative of these words or
similar words or expressions. Such forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking
statements. Important factors include Momenta's ability to fund and
successfully conduct clinical trials of its hsIVIg product
candidate, either independently or in collaboration with a partner;
the possibility of unfavorable or disappointing clinical trial
results; Momenta's ability to successfully partner the hsIVIg
program; and the factors listed under "Risk Factors" in Momenta's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other
documents that may be filed by Momenta from time to time with
the SEC. Momenta is providing the information in
this press release as of the date hereof and assumes no obligations
to update the information included in this press release or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
CONTACT: Investor Relations:
Sarah Carmody
Momenta Pharmaceuticals
1-617-395-5189
IR@momentapharma.com
Media Relations:
Karen Sharma
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
1-781-235-3060
Momenta@macbiocom.com
Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MNTA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Momenta Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:MNTA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024