Elan ties up alliance to fight autoimmune diseases

Elan, the Irish pharmaceutical company, has announced a partnership with Archimex to develop aptamer therapeutics for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Aptamers are nucleic acids that form three dimensional shapes, allowing them to bind to molecules in a way not dissimilar to antibodies.

The two companies will work to develop aptamers for IL-23, a protein signalling compound identified as a mediator that can heighten inflammation surrounding chronic inflammatory diseases as diverse as Crohn’s disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

Archimex, an American company, will receive $7 million dollars (3.8 million pounds) from Elan, which could increase to $350 million on achievement of certain development milestones and sales.

G Kelly Martin, Elan’s president and chief executive officer, remarked: “We are pleased and enthusiastic about joining forces with Archemix to seek to further expand patient/physician treatment choice in autoimmune diseases.”

“By combining our strengths, this collaboration can accelerate the development of new therapies for chronic, debilitating diseases with continued unmet medical needs,” he added.

Dr Errol De Souza, Archimex’s chief executive officer and president, concluded: “Aptamers are poised to become the next generation of therapeutics and we are extremely pleased to be working with a company of Elan’s calibre on their development.”

One example of an aptamer drug is Pfizer’s Macugen, recently released for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. One consultant, Keith Gregory-Evans of the Western Eye Hospital of London, told the Times that the drug “really is a major step forward in fighting AMD”.

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