Alexion: Antibody therapy shown effective in preclinical studies for asthma

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, May 15 - Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced Monday research findings showing that its anti-C5 monoclonal antibody can be effectively delivered to the lungs to substantially block airway inflammation and hyper-responsiveness in preclinical models of acute severe allergic asthma.

The compound used in the research is a surrogate of eculizumab, Alexion's lead anti-complement antibody, officials said in a company news release.

The study shows that anti-C5 monoclonal antibodies, including eculizumab, can be successfully aerosolized for therapeutic use, officials said.

The data were presented Monday at the annual meeting of the American Association of Immunologists in Boston.

In the study, the anti-C5 complement antibody was aerosolized with a standard nebulizer, a device commonly used to deliver asthma medication. A single dose was found to be highly effective in blocking the bronchial inflammation and hyper-responsiveness that provoke airway constriction and have been shown to result in shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and other asthma symptoms in asthmatic patients.

The data also showed that combining the antibody with a corticosteroid was more effective than either therapy alone.

Alexion is a Chesire, Conn., biotechnology company working to develop and deliver drug therapies.

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