Products in Development

VLST-002 (AntiKine Ab)

AntiKines: Multi-Reactive Anti-Chemokine Antibodies for the Treatment of Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases

Chemokines are proteins that guide the migration of cells and play a key role in mediating inflammatory responses. Moreover, chemokines are implicated in numerous autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The importance of chemokines in regulating leukocyte migration has been demonstrated in animal models where chemokine inhibition ameliorates symptoms of disease.

A challenge with targeting chemokines therapeutically has been the complexity and redundancy with multiple chemokines interacting with different receptors. VLST is attempting to overcome this redundancy by mimicking a strategy used by multiple viral virulence proteins. Several viruses have evolved proteins that bind and neutralize a broad set of chemokines to evade the host’s immune system. The pan-chemokine binding activity of these viral proteins suggests the feasibility of isolating an antibody with similar multi-chemokine neutralizing activity which could be used in a therapeutic setting to treat inflammatory diseases.

We have generated and are humanizing a panel of antibodies reactive with multiple chemokines implicated in disease. These antibodies have been shown to functionally inhibit chemokine activity resulting in blockade of cell migration and are currently undergoing lead optimization to generate a therapeutic candidate. We anticipate that a multi-reactive anti-chemokine antibody will prove effective in the treatment of multiple autoimmune disorders where chemokines have been identified as key mediators.