Insmed Incorporated recently announced that it will present three ARIKAYCE™-related abstracts and one treprostinil prodrug abstract at the American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2016 International Conference in San Francisco, May 13-18.

ARIKAYCE™ (liposomal amikacin for inhalation, or LAI) is an investigational drug comprising the antibiotic amikacin in Insmed’s proprietary liposomal technology formulation. ARIKAYCE is being investigated for the treatment of serious lung infections, such as those caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), through the direct delivery of antibiotic to the infected lung area.

Liposomes are microscopic membrane shells that contain water. In a liposome drug delivery system, water-soluble drugs, like amikacin, are located in the liposome’s water core. The goal of a liposome delivery system, which is currently investigational, is to deliver medicines directly to the site of the lung infection.

Insmed’s earlier-stage pipeline incorporates treprostinil prodrugs, which may offer a differentiated product profile with therapeutic potential to address rare pulmonary diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), severe refractory asthma, and sarcoidosis.

According to a press release, the ATS abstracts titles and time scheduled are as follows:

• Kenneth N. Olivier, MD, will present on May 16, 2016 the Poster 11396 titled “12-month follow-up data from a phase 2 trial of liposomal amikacin for inhalation (LAI) in patients with refractory nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) lung infection” in Session: B49 – Non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease and case reports.
• Kenneth N. Olivier, MD, will present on May 16, 2016 the Poster 5105 titled “Airway deposition and retention of liposomal amikacin for inhalation in patients with pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease” in Session: B49 – Non-tuberculous mycobacterial disease and case reports.
• Vladimir Malinin will present on May 17, 2016 the Poster 8799 titled “Biodistribution and clearance of liposomal amikacin for inhalation and free amikacin after a single-dose inhalation in rats” in Session: C57 – Cellular/molecular mechanisms and translational aspects of respiratory infections.
• Adam Plaunt will present on May 18, 2016 the Poster 10405 titled “Structure dependent PK profiles of alkyl ester treprostinil prodrugs (TPD) administered via metered dose inhaler to rats” in Session: D52 – Molecular insight into pulmonary hypertension.

More information is available online at the conference website at http://conference.thoracic.org.

NTM is a group of bacteria, normally found in soil and water and some domestic and wild animals, that can cause severe lung disease. Although NTM naturally exists in the environment and doesn’t affect most people, some develop an NTM infection when they inhale the bacteria in the air or water mist, or when they drink water containing NTM. Each year in the United States, about two in every 100,000 people develop an NTM infection.