About
Who is AlloCyte Pharmaceuticals AG ?
AlloCyte Pharmaceuticals AG is a Swiss-based company discovering, developing and commercializing next generation allosteric small molecule integrin modulators to address major unmet medical needs of severe chronic autoimmunity. AlloCyte was founded by reputated drug developers, private investors and integrin experts of pharma-industrial, academic, business and clinical backgrounds. AlloCyte’s drug development programs are fueled by cutting-edge drug discovery, driven by scientific rigor and advanced therapeutically by the resilience to take the route less travelled if this is the pathway to transformative therapeutic innovation.
'The hardest thing to see is what is in front of your eyes.'
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
What does 'next generation' mean ?
Next generation refers to (1) AlloCyte’s proprietary allosteric small molecule integrin platform pharmacology (differentiated to all former non-allosteric integrin-targeted modes of action) and (2) the company’s integrin-recalibratory (rather than grossly integrin-suppressive) therapeutic translation, advanced in close cooperation with internationally leading translational and clinical immunologists.
Broadly immunosuppressive effects of the former anti-integrin antibody efalizumab as well as unwanted paradoxical effects of non-allosteric small molecule integrin ligand mimetics (i.e. effects counter to the intended effects) have posed and continue to pose significant obstacles to integrin targeted drug development. Allosteric targeting is foreseen to remove these obstacles. AlloCyte's allosteric mode of action is integrin-selective and devoid of paradoxical effects.
The dual advance of AlloCyte’s allosteric (rather than non-allosteric) pharmacology and its integrin-recalibratory (rather than grossly integrin-suppressive) therapeutic translation may permit to recalibratorily target, for the first time, serious integrin-dysregulatory autoimmune syndromes hitherto labelled as enigmatic. Integrin dysregulatory syndromes are disease states in which a distinct integrin network dysregulation dominantly and non-redundantly defines the disease phenotype.
AlloCyte’s therapeutic intent is to allosterically restore integrin homeostasis with the aim of resolving integrin-dysregulatory disease.
Which diseases does AlloCyte target ?
AlloCyte develops a novel type of oral immune-regulatory precision intervention to treat severe immune-mediated diseases associated with major (in part devastating) chronic morbidity, including, in principle, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, IBD, sight-threatening non-infectious posterior uveitis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis among other rare yet serious chronic immune-mediated diseases. These diseases affect different organs yet share the pathology of serious self-destructive cell killing (autologous cytotoxicity) which is not seen in health. There are no approved therapies to effectively control aberrant self-destructive cell killing.
AlloCyte has accumulated data evidence to suggest that the self-destructive cytotoxicity observed in these tissue-destructive immune-mediated diseases may be driven by aberrant self-perpetuating cycles over-activating and over-engaging a distinct integrin. AlloCyte’s oral small molecule allosteric integrin-targeted intervention may have the capacity to recalibratorily (rather than grossly integrin-suppressively) halt these aberrant self-perpetuating cycles, restoring normal integrin network function.
AlloCyte estimates that its first oral product, if developed successfully, may vastly alter therapeutic landscapes across severe tissue-destructive autoimmunity. As AlloCyte’s pharmacology is a platform pharmacology designed to deliver multiple potential drug candidates, AlloCyte foresees the future stratification of its compound portfolio to the different needs of different serious tissue-destructive diseases.
Is AlloCyte’s pharmacology active upon oral use ?
Yes, AlloCyte’s first small molecule allosteric integrin targeted drug candidate prevented disease activity in animals upon oral dosing. Treatment was taken up avidly and well-tolerated throughout the course of the study. The need for concomitant symptomatic medication was abrogated, completely.
The tolerability and safety profile of this first drug candidate is affirmed by repeat dose studies across different species. AlloCyte’s first drug candidate is further found to exhibit excellent oral biovailability and PK/PD characteristics, projected to potentially support an once daily oral dosing regimen, in the future.
Is AlloCyte’s pharmacology active in human disease ?
When tested in vitro in human patient tissue samples and patient cells, AlloCyte’s pharmacology was found to elicit the therapeutically intended effect profiles. Upon IND readiness of its first oral drug candidate, AlloCyte’s next major target milestone (i.e. the potential next value inclination point) will be therapeutic proof-of-concept in patients. Indication selection has been informed by immune-mechanistic data of an experimental in vitro study in patient biomaterials.
Will AlloCyte's intervention be immunosuppressive ?
Allosteric integrin inhibition is directed at rebalancing the immune response, controlling autoimmunity, and avoiding immunosuppression. Therapeutic objective of AlloCyte's first target product is to allosterically recalibrate a distinct integrin over-activity observed in serious autoimmunity yet not observed the same in normal self-protective immune responses. This integrin over-activity is thought to trigger self-perpetuating cycles of cellular self kill and integrin over-activation, gradually destroying normal tissue architectures and organ function. The target intervention aims to interrupt these self-perpetuating cyles, to restore tissue integrity and to durably rescue organ function. AlloCyte's target intervention represents a novel type of oral immune regulatory precision intervention, foreseen to replace current and still emergent immunosuppressive therapies.
How does AlloCyte work ?
Founded and fully owned by senior professionals and private investors of industrial and academic backgrounds, AlloCyte is fortunate in having access, since its inception, to professional networks in academia and industry which span a broad spectrum of drug developmental competencies. Supported by public and matching private and corporate funds, AlloCyte engages in drug-developmentally integrated cooperations with leading investigators, reputated institutions and pharma companies. The convergence of AlloCyte’s advance with the continued progress of both the integrin and autoimmunity fields has created and continues to create AlloCyte’s potentially transformative drug developmental opportunity of small molecule allosteric integrin recalibration.