Are Safer and more Effective Therapeutic Asthma and COPD Medications on the Horizon?
Companies to Watch
Apellis Pharmaceuticals in collaboration with leading U.S. universities believes that safer and more effective therapeutic Asthma and COPD medications are on the horizon and it aims to bring a new class of anti-inflammatory drugs to the market to address chronic inflammatory diseases in areas of significant unmet need such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Severe Asthma and COPD
According to the Apellis Pharmaceuticals website, Asthma affects 7% of the population of the United States and a total of 300 million people worldwide. In 2009 asthma represented a $12.7B market. The standard-of-care in asthma is dominated by corticosteroids, beta-agonists and to a lesser extent leukotriene inhibitors and anti-IgE antibodies. While these drugs control asthma in a majority of patients, there remains a significant unmet medical need for safer and more effective therapeutics. Especially in severe asthma there is a tendency to have poor control with corticosteroids. Due to the continued immune aggression on the lungs, patients with severe asthma account for ~50% of asthma-related healthcare costs and are at greater risks of complications, including the development of COPD and death.
COPD is the third-leading cause of death in the USA after heart disease and cancer. In spite of the large number of people affected (~14 million people have been diagnosed withGrade II-IV COPD) and its enormous cost (the NIH estimated the cost of COPD to the healthcare system to be $42.6B in 2007) there are no treatments that effectively treat COPD. The standard of care is almost exclusively symptomatic (suppressing inflammation and opening the airways) but no drug has been successful in slowing or halting the immune process that slowly destroys the airways (chronic bronchitis) and lung tissues (emphysema).
Apellis explores novel mechanisms to modify these diseases by inhibiting complement activation and has assembled an innovative and multi-faceted drug pipeline through a combination of selective in-licensing and internal research and development. As an important component of its long-term strategy, Apellis also engages in and catalyses the development of broad-ranging and complementary technologies such as drug delivery systems and diagnostic tools through collaborations and grant-funded programs.
If confirmed, the most important distinguishing feature of complement inhibition would be its exceptional ability to change the immunological micro-environment and thus resolve the immune process at work in these pulmonary diseases. APL-1 might thus halt or reverse anatomic remodeling of the lungs, the principle cause of irreversible loss of respiratory capacity, morbidity and mortality in severe asthma and COPD.