Results from preclinical studies showed that restoring the levels of a protein called Resokine has therapeutic potential for the treatment of severe, rare pulmonary diseases characterized by inflammation and fibrosis, such as interstitial lung disease (ILD).

The latest findings by biotherapeutics company aTyr Pharma on Resokine function and therapeutic potential will be presented at the 2017 International Conference of the American Thoracic Society (ATS), held May 19-24 in Washington, D.C.

According to an ATS press release, poster presentations at this year’s conference include:

• “The Resokine Pathway Is Implicated in the Pathology of Interstitial Lung Disease,” presented by Leslie A. Nangle, PhD, aTyr Pharma’s director of Discovery Biology;
• “Resokine Modulates Immune Cell Infiltration into the Lung and Provides Therapeutic Activity in a Bleomycin-Induced Lung Fibrosis Model,” presented by Kathy Ogilvie, PhD, aTyr Pharma’s director of physiology.

aTyr Pharma has focused on developing therapies based on physiocrine biology, a recently discovered class of proteins. This includes the Resokine pathway, a homeostatic pathway that controls the set point of key cells in the immune system to ensure appropriate control of immune responses.

Previous findings showed that patients with ILD have increased circulating levels of Jo-1 autoantibodies, whose only known target is Resokine. Jo-1 autoantibodies may cause a reduction in the functioning of Resokine protein in these patients. Preclinical results demonstrated that this protein was essential to regulating inflammatory processes to prevent lung disease development.

Through aTyr Pharma’s iMod.Fc (Stalaris) program, researchers showed that restoring Resokine levels through the administration of Resolaris, a Resokine-fusion protein, improved lung symptoms and lung tissue damage in rodents with severe lung disease (namely bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis) after only two weeks of treatment.

The treatment also reduced molecular signs of inflammation and fibrosis.

These results provide preclinical support for further development of Stalaris to target Resokine pathway proteins as a therapy for human lung diseases, such as ILD. aTyr Pharma will start its first clinical trial for the iMod.Fc program in the second half of this year.

On May 23, the company will host an educational webinar featuring Steven D. Nathan, MD, director of Inova Fairfax Hospital’s Advanced Lung Disease Program and medical director of the Lung Transplant Program, to discuss ILDs and provide an overview of the iMod.Fc program. For more information, visit this link.