KalGene Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announces a new peer-review publication demonstrating the efficacy of KG207 in clearing toxic oligomer species of amyloid beta in translational imaging studies
Montreal, Canada (August 31st, 2021) – KalGene Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today a publication of a peer review article “Preclinical in vivo longitudinal assessment of KG207-M as a disease-modifying Alzheimer’s disease therapeutic.” This article is based on research led by the McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging.
KalGene is developing a biological molecule KG207, engineered to transport across the blood-brain barrier and to eliminate toxic oligomeric forms of amyloid which accumulate in the brains of patients in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. The molecule is also designed to reduce inflammatory side effects in the brain, often observed with the antibody-based therapies.
These functions of KG207 were evaluated in the current publication using an experimental approach akin to the typical clinical studies in Alzheimer’s patients– the effects of repeated drug administration in transgenic rats overexpressing beta amyloid, were followed using a prospective molecular imaging (PET) of brain amyloid load, structural and functional MRI imaging and analyses of clinically-validated biomarkers as surrogates for disease modification in response to treatment.
"This paper is a great reminder of how the Canadian scientific community can come together to innovate and develop a ground-breaking approach in the field of Alzheimer’s and to deliver the hope of a safer and more potent therapy to treat this difficult condition.” said Prof. Pedro Rosa Neto, the Director of the McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging - Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal. “The study was a collaborative effort which included McGill University, where researchers developed a transgenic AD rat model and a multimodal biomarker platform that allows assessments of the effects of an anti-amyloid-beta therapy on various clinically relevant features of disease progression.”
This innovative study designed with translation to patients in mind demonstrated a robust ability of KG207 to cross the BBB and to clear amyloid-beta deposits from the brain of AD transgenic animals using PET imaging, without inducing dose-limiting side effects (ARIA-E/H) that are common for currently developed
immunotherapies. Furthermore, improved neuronal connectivity in the brains of treated animals were observed using functional MRI; these imaging outcomes were strongly correlated with molecular biomarker changes measured in cerebrospinal fluid. The study highlights the importance of designing pre-clinical studies using translational outcomes and assessment modalities that are typically used in clinical trials for AD. The evidence presented in this article shows a great potential of KG207 as a disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer’s disease.
About KalGene Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
KalGene Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a pre-clinical stage company focused on the development of a precision engineered drug candidate KG207 to slow the progression and potentially reverse Alzheimer's. KG207 targets the direct cause of Alzheimer’s disease, toxic beta-amyloid oligomers, with reduced risk of potentially serious side effects caused by some of the emerging anti-amyloid monoclonal antibody therapeutics, including the recently FDA-approved Aduhelm.
The molecule was designed to address several critical components: a chaperone binding motif to facilitate active transport across the blood brain barrier, allowing for a multi-fold greater concentration of the drug to enter the brain when compared to conventional monoclonal antibody; an active structural element to increase the half-life of the molecule and a toxic oligomer species specific binding peptide fragment that potentially slows neuronal loss and progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
SOURCE: KalGene Pharmaceuticals, Inc.