BALTIMORE– MyMD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“MyMD”), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company committed to extending healthy lifespan by focusing on developing two therapeutic platforms, today announced new data from a study conducted by Eurofins Discovery (ERF.FP) Phenotypic Center of Excellence (“Eurofins”) comparing the biological activities of MyMD’s lead compound MYMD-1, with leading FDA approved TNF inhibitors (TNFi).
MYMD-1 is being developed to treat autoimmune and age-related diseases, and to slow aging thereby increasing life-span. The drug has shown effectiveness in regulating the immune system, in preclinical studies, by targeting the root causes of inflammation and performing as a selective inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), a driver of chronic inflammation.
The recent Eurofins study found that when compared to commercially available TNFi biological drugs, MYMD-1 had significant activity demonstrating anti-proliferative effects – the effect of inhibiting cell growth. Data also demonstrated that none of the biological drugs selected for the comparison study proved to be anti-proliferative to any of the primary cell types assessed.
“This data continues to validate our concerted efforts to move forward in bringing MYMD-1 to the market and its promising potential to treat a myriad of inflammatory and autoimmune-related diseases,” said Chris Chapman, M.D., President, Director and Chief Medical Officer of MyMD. “We remain encouraged as we continue our evaluations of MYMD-1 for efficacy and safety – especially as studies continue to suggest we may be able to address many of the concerns that are associated with the current drugs on the market today in these disease areas.”
The current FDA approved TNFi biological drugs selected for the comparative study treat a number of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and more. Acumen Research and Consulting confirmed TNF-α inhibitors are the most prescribed drugs by revenue globally, at $40 billion per year.
“Current TNF-a inhibitors available today, while effective, come with an array of adverse effects and concerns for patients,” said Adam Kaplin, M.D., Ph.D, Chief Scientific Officer for MyMD. “Many have the risk of causing neurotoxicity, as they are unable to cross the blood–brain barrier; this is one of the key differentiators and capabilities of MYMD-1, which crosses the blood-brain barrier. We also found that MYMD-1’s selectivity allows it to only block overactive TNF-a in lymphocytes that participate in autoimmune diseases, leaving TNF-a synthesized in macrophages to be produced to help coordinate the initial response to acute infections. This should remove the increased risk of infection, associated with all TNFi biological drugs used today.”
“The power of the BioMAP Platform lies in the ability to compare a compound’s biological profile, or fingerprint, against a large reference database of profiles from approved drugs and tool compounds,” said Alison O’Mahony, Ph.D., Vice President of Translational Biology at Eurofins Discovery. “These advanced analytics provide a human-centric, data-driven approach to phenotypic discovery for clients.”
The study was completed using the BioMAP® Diversity PLUS® Panel for broad phenotypic profiling and screening from Eurofins Discovery. The BioMAP Diversity PLUS Panel provides biologically relevant in vitro models of human disease and is used to analyze drug candidate compounds, from discovery to preclinical safety. BioMAP Diversity PLUS systems are made of human primary cell-based assays modeling complex tissue and disease biology of organs. BioMAP Diversity PLUS informs a drug candidate’s potency, selectivity, safety, mechanism of action and disease indication. Additionally, these findings can provide actionable insights to help progress the right molecules to further clinical testing.
MyMD will continue conducting studies with Eurofins to determine the efficacy of MYMD-1 and its key differentiators when compared to current drugs on the market. These efforts continue to support MyMD’s efforts to move forward in Phase 2 clinical studies.
