Athera Biotechnologies AB

The Challenge

Treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have improved significantly over recent decades. However, morbidity and mortality are still high and there is a significant need for better care of acute CVD patients.  Inflammation is a recognized component of CVD and is not addressed by current treatments.  A treatment that inhibits the inflammatory response associated with CVD has the potential to improve survival and morbidity significantly in these patients.

Athera's Solution

Studies of healthy individuals and patients with CVD suggest that naturally-occurring antibodies to phosphorylcholine (PC) have anti-inflammatory properties and protect against CVD. PC-mAb is a fully human monoclonal antibody that binds to PC and  is being developed to restore cardio-protective levels of PC antibodies and prevent secondary CVD events after acute coronary syndrome.

Athera is also developing Annexin A5, a recombinant protein treatment that in animal studies has been shown to prevent inflammation, restenosis and plaque rupture. The protein is being developed to prevent complications after vascular surgery of patients with peripheral arterial disease.

Competitive Advantages

Athera's product candidates target the inflammatory component of acute cardiovascular disease, where current therapies are considered to be inadequate. The company’s biomarker, CVDefine® kit, makes it possible to identify high risk patients with CVD that are most likely to benefit from anti-inflammatory treatment.

The Market

More than 500 million individuals suffer from various types of CVD, the leading cause of death in the developed world accounting for over 40 % of all deaths¹.  Several of the world's most prescribed drugs are used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases with USD 100bn sales².

Status

• Treatment with PC-mAb was shown to be effective in 3 different animal models of CVD
• A candidate drug has been selected for the PC-mAb program and is currently in preclinical development.
• A manufacturing process has been developed for PC-mAb and has been used in production of material for toxicology studies
• Process development for Annexin A5 has been scaled up to manufacturing scale