Organ transplantation is a treatment that can save the lives of many individuals who are suffering from irreversible organ failure. However, the recipient’s immune system often rejects the transplanted organ as alien. It launches an attack on it, significantly reducing the likelihood that the transplant will succeed. But that might very well change. In non-human primates, a unique designer antibody that has gained interest as a possible therapy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was able to effectively prevent the rejection of donated kidneys, which cleared the way for the antibody to be tested in human organ recipients.
AT-1501 is a monoclonal antibody that was shown to lower rates of rejection with no reduction in the requirement for immunosuppressive medicines or producing an increase in blood clots, both of which had been known to be adverse effects of earlier formulations of the therapy. By cloning a specific kind of immune cell, these antibodies are intended to function in a manner analogous to that of human antibodies. AT-1501 is also directed toward a particular protein on the outermost layer of some T cells (a type of white cell) known as CD40 ligand.
These data support AT-1501 as a safe and effective agent to promote both islet and kidney transplant survival and function and allow us to advance into clinical trials right away, explained Allan Kirk, immunologist and transplant surgeon from Duke University.
As is the case with the current standard of treatment in kidney and islet transplantation, AT-1501 is anticipated to be utilized in conjunction with other immunosuppressive medicines already on the market that target various facets of the immune response. Rhesus macaques received kidney transplants, and cynomolgus monkeys had pancreatic islet transplants so that AT-1501 could be examined for its potential to be both safe and efficacious. After receiving transplant procedures, the animals that were administered AT-1501 experienced fewer issues, such as reactivation of the dormant virus cytomegalovirus or weight loss.
