ALX-0061 / ANTI-IL-6 RECEPTOR NANOBODY® at the EULAR 2013

Two studies on the novel anti-IL-6 receptor nanobody® (ALX-0061) had been presented at the ACR 2012 meeting in Washington; http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/12/alx-0061-at-acr-annual-meeting-2012-in.html. At the EULAR meeting 2013 in Madrid we’ll get two more studies to discuss.

J.-B. Holz and colleagues presented a study [OP0043]: “Twenty-four weeks of treatment with a novel anti-il-6 receptor nanobody® (ALX-0061) resulted in 84% ACR20 improvement and 58% DAS28 remission in a phase I/II study in RA”. Conclusions: “In patients with active RA, rapid and strong effects on the IL-6 pathway were observed and associated with a strong clinical response. Clinically significant improvement of disease activity occurred fast and almost 60% of patients achieved state of remission at the end of 24 weeks. The treatment was well tolerated at all doses …”. ACR20 84%, ACR50 68%, ACR70 52% sounds too good. The AMBITION study resulted in: ACR20 70%, ACR50 44%, ACR70 28%. I think future results for ALX-0061 will look more realistic to be comparable to real life.

M. Van Roy and colleagues presented the following study [FRI0021]: “ALX-0061, an anti-IL-6R nanobody® for therapeutic use in rheumatoid arthritis, demonstrates in vitro a differential biological activity profile as compared to tocilizumab“. Conclusions: “ALX-0061 demonstrates in vitro a preferential biological activity profile for sIL-6R with a lesser activity for mIL-6R, while TCZ has a higher preference for mIL-6R. Preferential inhibition of sIL-6R trans-signalling by ALX-0061 could provide superior therapeutic efficacy with a better side effect profile than TCZ.”

There seems to be a lot of optimism within the research teams! But compared with the results of some small molecules I’m tempted to share this optimism. I’m looking forward to see larger studies on ALX-0061!