Aeterna Zentaris Provides Update On Pre-Clinical Results From Aim Biologicals Development Program For The Potential Treatment Of Parkinson's Disease

Author: Benzinga Newsdesk | May 12, 2022 08:18am

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. (NASDAQ:AEZS) (TSX:AEZS) ("Aeterna" or the "Company"), a specialty biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing a diversified portfolio of pharmaceutical and diagnostic products, today provided an update on the positive results from pre-clinical studies of Aeterna's Autoimmunity Modifying Biologicals ("AIM Biologicals"), for the potential treatment of Parkinson's Disease ("PD"). As previously announced, the data were presented at IMMUNOLOGY2022™, the annual event of the American Association of Immunologists, held on May 6-10, 2022 in Portland, Oregon.

"Under our collaboration with the University of Wuerzburg, Prof. Wischhusen, Prof. Chi Wang Ip, and their teams have provided data that we believe is important pre-clinical proof of concept for our AIM Biologicals platform," said Dr. Klaus Paulini, Chief Executive Officer of Aeterna Zentaris. "In various in-vitro and in-vivo assays, the team has demonstrated the antigen-specific immune-modulatory activity of these HLA-G based molecules. We are very pleased with the encouraging progress of our AIM Biologicals program and the potential utility for the treatment of PD."

AIM Biologicals are targeted, highly specific autoimmunity modifying therapeutics. The scientific concept behind this platform technology is "feto-maternal-tolerance". During pregnancy, the immune system of mothers does not attack the fetus, which consists of 50% paternal proteins. For this, the immune system is not downregulated, but selectively de-sensibilized, thus ensuring that the mothers continue to be protected against infections.

For development as potential PD therapeutics, the Company is utilizing, among others, an innovative animal model on neurodegeneration by α-synuclein-specific T cells in AAV-A53T-α-synuclein Parkinson's disease mice, which has recently been published by our University of Wuerzburg research collaborators.

The abstract titled "α-synuclein peptides presented on chimeric MHC class Ib molecules prevent loss of substantia nigra neurons in an animal model for Parkinson's disease1" outlining the data was presented by Prof. Joerg Wischhusen, PhD, Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Tumor Immunology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, University of Wuerzburg. As previously announced, that abstract was accepted as a poster presentation and was also selected for an oral presentation at IMMUNOLOGY2022™.

The pre-clinical study investigated whether novel, antigen-specific, tolerance-inducing biomolecules that present peptide antigens on MHC class Ib-related molecules can inhibit neurodegeneration and prevent PD in-vivo.

The pre-clinical data presented showed consistent effects in various in-vitro and in-vivo models, verifying the potential of HLA-G based molecules to induce antigen-specific immune-modulation. Treatment with such molecules (AIM Biologicals) lead to apoptosis of antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells and to the stimulation of regulatory T cells. In a new, innovative mouse model of Parkinson's disease, treatment with α-Synuclein specific AIM Biologicals showed a trend towards improved motoric function, as well as significant induction of regulatory T cells and rescue of substantia nigra neurons.

"There is a growing interest in the induction of antigen-specific immunotolerance in neuroinflammatory diseases," said Prof. Joerg Wischhusen. "Utilizing such therapeutic approaches is of particular interest in the potential treatment of PD, since currently available treatment options are symptomatic and immunomodulatory treatments have not yet been tested. We were pleased with the results from this study and believe the translational potential of this approach deserves further exploration."

The abstract and poster can be accessed on the Publications page of the Company's website.

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