Memo Therapeutics has brought to notice the start of a clinical trial in renal transplant patients to treat BK polyomavirus (BKV) infection.The safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of MTX-005 will be assessed in a phase 1 single-blind, partially randomised, and placebo-controlled study. A total of 56 healthy adult participants will be given intravenous dosages.
MTX-005 is a medicinal antibody candidate discovered through the screening of BKV-infected kidney transplant patients. The goal was to find the few people who had an eradication antibody response to the virus. MTX-005, which was chosen from hundreds of BKV-specific antibodies, totally negates all BKV strains at extremely low dosages.
Currently, the virus poses a serious concern to kidney transplant recipients. Although BKV is generally latent, the immunosuppression required for transplant survival can cause it to reactivate in 40-50% of patients.
Meanwhile, BKV-associated nephropathy can develop in up to 10% of these individuals. There is currently no disease-modifying therapy available, with the exception of reducing immunosuppression, which raises the likelihood of graft rejection, resulting in decreased efficiency and lifespan.
Dr. Jürgen Beck, Memo Therapeutics’ chief medical officer, is excited about the potential of MTX-005: MTX-005 can be a game-changer for individuals who are currently severely underserved. The antibody has a 100-fold higher neutralising ability than benchmark antibodies, and they are delighted by the overwhelmingly favourable feedback from major opinion leaders.
Memo’s discovery platform employs reliable and quick microfluidic single-cell molecular cloning technology to accelerate antibody discovery.
