Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Lupus is a debilitating auto-immune disease, predominantly affecting women between 15 and 40 years of age, and the black population, although early diagnosis is difficult due to the large array of symptoms. The Lupus Foundation of America estimates that various forms of this disease affect 1.5 million in the US, and 5 million worldwide (LFA).
The body’s immune system, which normally defends against bacteria, viruses and other invaders, triggers abnormal antibodies (called auto-antibodies) that attack the patient’s own healthy tissues, as if it were an infection. The symptoms of the disease are tissue inflammation, sometimes specifically of a single organ such as the thyroid, and more commonly systemic, of all or several organs, such as the skin, connective tissue of joints, kidneys, liver, heart and brain.
Treatments to date are immunosuppressive, with important side effects since they also weaken overall immunity, which makes patients more susceptible to infections and other diseases.
However, all of this is about to change with the 2018 scheduled marketing of Lupuzor™ (rigerimod or P140), a small peptide drug that modulates the rogue production of antibodies, while leaving the immune system otherwise inact, and thus halts the progression of the disease. A new treatment and hope exist for the thousands of people suffering from this devastating disease.
This invention, consisting of a modified peptide, is recited in the following 4 European patents, awarded to Sylviane Muller and her colleagues, researchers at the CNRS Institute of molecular and cellular biology, in Strasbourg France:
- EP1425295 titled Modified peptides and their use for the treatment of autoimmune diseases
- EP1631586 titled Peptide analogues comprising at least one type of aminoacyl aza-beta 3 and the use thereof, in particular for therapy
- EP1507794 titled Novel multimeric molecules, the preparation method thereof and use of same for the preparation of medicaments
- EP0491014 titled Sm-D antigen peptides and their use, in particular, for the diagnosis of systemic lupus erythematosus.
The EPO video below spotlights Sylviane Muller, and tells the story of this potential blockbuster drug.
References
CDC - Lupus detailed Fact Sheet
CDC - Lupus Registries and Longitudinal Studies
Clinical Trials.org – Lupuzor
ImunoPharma (different from ImmunoPharma.net)
Lupus Drug candidate Lupuzor™ pivotal Phase 3 Clinical Trial doses first European patients
Lupus Foundation of America (LFA) - National Resource Center on Lupus (Facts & Statistics)
Lupuzor™
WHO - Principles and methods for studying autoimmunity associated with exposure to chemicals
http://www.who.int/ipcs/publications/ehc/ehc236.pdf?ua=1
2 comments:
The advancements in the discovery and creation of various peptides is a big breakthrough. It has revolustioned the world of molecular biology. Thanks for sharing all this information!
I have decided to make this post or testimony public; my mother was diagnosed with Lupus Erythematosus five years ago. I loved my mother very much and it was heartbreaking to have her develop such a chronic disease, and to stand by and watch her decline in her ability to take care of herself, struggling with day-to-day tasks. Lupus does not just affect the person who is diagnosed, it also turns your world as a care-giver upside down if your loved one is grappling with the condition. To be clear, there is no pharmaceutical medicine, no magic pill that has any significant effect on the progressive downhill course of this disease. Not until we use an herbal medicine called BLONGY that puts an end to it. Now she is living her best life again. I have seen it all; there is a herbal cure for Lupus Erythenatosus that is more potent than any medication or treatment. If you have lupus, I advise you to opt for herbal cure by contacting Dr. Bharat on dr.bharatkings@gmail.com you shall come here to testify just like me. Believe it or not I have passed the information for awareness.
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