25 October 2018 - - US-based immunotherapy company Alpine Immune Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALPN) has presented positive results from preclinical studies of its lead program ALPN-101, a dual ICOS/CD28 antagonist, in experimental models of inflammatory arthritis and multiple sclerosis, the company said.

The data were presented on Sunday, October 21, 2018 in poster sessions during the 2018 American College of Rheumatology /Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals annual meeting in Chicago and the 143rd annual meeting of the American Neurological Association in Atlanta.

ALPN-101, a Dual ICOS/CD28 Antagonist, Potently Suppresses Disease in Multiple Mouse Models of Autoimmunity (Poster #71873)

The preclinical studies presented at the ACR/ARHP annual meeting evaluated the activity of ALPN-101 in a collagen-induced arthritis and an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model. Abatacept was used as a key comparator.

Results showed ALPN-101, given preventively or therapeutically, significantly reduced disease activity in CIA.

ALPN-101 was more efficacious than interventions on the CD28 or ICOS pathways alone. In CIA, ALPN-101 inhibited multiple biomarkers associated with disease, including inflammatory cytokines, anti-collagen autoantibodies, and activated T cells.

Alpine said it is the first company employing directed evolution to create potentially powerful multifunctional immunotherapies to improve patients' lives.

Supported by promising preclinical data, we aim to have two programs in the clinic in 2019. The first, ALPN-101 for autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, is a dual ICOS/CD28 antagonist, engineered to reduce pathogenic immune responses.

The second, ALPN-202 for cancer, is a dual PD-L1/CTLA-4 antagonist and PD-L1-dependent CD28 T cell costimulator intended to combine checkpoint inhibition with a necessary costimulation signal an approach currently absent from approved checkpoint therapies.