Columbia Technology Ventures

Targeted immunotherapy for amyloid fibril removal

This technology is a method of removing disease-associated amyloid fibril deposits using targeted antibodies to enhance the patient’s cellular immune response.

Unmet Need: Effective method for removal or reversal of amyloid fibril deposition

The pathological accumulation of amyloid proteins is implicated in a variety of chronic inflammatory disorders, cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases. However, current approaches for treatment and removal of amyloid deposits, such as high-dose chemotherapy, steroids, and stem cell replacement, are highly invasive but rarely achieve complete remission.

The Technology: Antibody therapy leverages patient’s immune response for amyloid removal

This treatment uses amyloid-directed antibodies to enhance the patient’s own cellular immune clearance mechanism to facilitate removal of disease-associated fibril deposits. The binding of the antibody to the amyloid fibrils, which normally avoid detection by the immune system, triggers a response from the patient’s immune system, facilitating destruction and removal of the deposit.

This technology has been validated in vivo in a mouse model of amyloidosis and is being investigated in human patients.

Applications:

  • Treatment for major systemic amyloidoses (e.g. tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease)
  • Treatment for major localized amyloidoses (e.g. Alzheimer’s disease, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease)
  • Treatment for other amyloidoses

Advantages:

  • Leverages the patient’s own immune system
  • Highly targeted treatment
  • Can be used to treat a variety of different types of amyloidoses

Lead Inventor:

Suzanne Lentzsch, M.D., Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Issued (US 8,105,594)

Related Publications:

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