DeepCure, a therapeutics company using AI to discover novel drugs for inflammation and immune diseases, today announced it will present early safety and efficacy data for their BRD4 (BD2) Inhibitor DC-9476 for macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) at the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) 2024 Conference, held September 24–27 in Germany.
MAS is a potentially fatal condition that occurs in about 15% of patients with juvenile Still’s disease (also known as systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis) and adult-onset Still’s disease. The clinical features of MAS include hematological depression of platelets, white blood cells (especially neutrophils) and red blood cells, and organ failure, leading to death in up to 20% of patients. There is an unmet need for novel treatments to replace or complement glucocorticoids, which are the current standard of care for MAS.
Details of the presentation:
Poster Title: Novel, Selective BRD4 (BD2) Inhibitor DC-9476 demonstrates activity in a model of Macrophage Activation Syndrome, a hyperinflammatory disease caused by inflammasome activation
Date: September 24, 6:15 – 9:00 pm (local time)
Presenter: Dr. Georg Duenstl, Vice President of Drug Discovery, DeepCure
DeepCure showed that its investigational candidate DC-9476 blocked MAS disease development in the CPG-induced animal model of MAS. DC-9476 was superior to the glucocorticoid (dexamethasone) in restoring the white blood cell count to almost normal levels and decreasing serum ferritin, which is a major diagnostic biomarker for MAS. DC-9476 blocked MAS disease development by direct inhibition of macrophage activation, and this had broad activity causing a decrease in the production on (IL)-1β, IL-18 and other MAS-related cytokines such as IL-6 and IFN-gamma. This activity is differentiated from non-selective BRD4 (BD2) inhibitors and current approved therapies that narrowly act on the downstream inflammasome and cytokines. In contrast to non-selective BRD4 (BD2) inhibitors that are known to cause low platelet levels, DC-9476 did not further decrease platelet levels in the MAS model.
“Our selective BRD4 (BD2) inhibitor, DC-9476, demonstrates a potentially new strategy to treat MAS by directly inhibiting macrophage activation,” said Kfir Schreiber, CEO & Co-Founder of DeepCure. “We’re excited to present our preclinical data for the first time and plan to advance DC-9476 to clinical trials as a potential therapy for patients with this serious and difficult-to-treat disease, as well as patients with underlying Still’s disease.”
About DeepCure
DeepCure is a therapeutics company focused on advancing novel drugs with the potential to transform the treatment of inflammation and autoimmune diseases. The company was founded by researchers at MIT to accelerate breakthrough therapies using artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-enabling technologies for small molecule discovery. The company is based in Boston, MA, and its engineers, chemists, and biologists collaborate to find solutions to hard problems that will have an enormous impact on patient health. For more information, visit www.deepcure.ai.
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