Full Press Release Details
The Science Behind Annapurna R. Crystal
Department of Genetic Medicine Weill Cornell Medical College 2-17-16 Exhibit 99.1
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Why Gene Therapy ? Gene Modify gene
expression Modify phenotype Advantages Versatile protein delivery system Persistent expression Local delivery
Basic Concept of Gene Therapy
Therapeutic gene Human genome m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m Delivery vehicle (vector) Target organ m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m m
Challenges of Gene Therapy Challenges
Target choice - need, feasibility Targeting to site of disease Level of expression required Robust phenotype, clear demonstration of efficacy using FDA-acceptable parameters Safety - risk/benefit, dose-limiting immune related toxicity,
lack of control of expression and inability to reverse Manufacturing Registration
Annapurna Programs Alpha 1-antitrypsin
deficiency Hereditary angioedema Friedreich's ataxia cardiac disease Severe allergy
AAVrh.10 Vectors ITR ITR ITR CAG
promoter Therapeutic gene (cDNA) Genome Capsid serotype AAVrh.10 AAV2 AAV2 Therapeutic genes Alpha 1-antitrypsin C1-esterase inhibitor Frataxin Anti-IgE
Why Gene Therapy? Alpha 1-antitrypsin
deficiency, hereditary angioedema, severe allergy Reduced treatment burden Ideal pharmacokinetics - constant levels For hereditary angioedema and severe allergy, eliminate risk for attacks without need for immediate medical care Friedreich's
ataxia cardiac disease Intracellular delivery of the deficient protein in the target organ Unmet medical need for a fatal disease
Alpha 1-Antitrypsin Deficiency
Common autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a marked reduction in serum a1AT levels Estimated 90,000 affected individuals in US Emphysema develops at ages 35-45 in cigarette smokers, 55-65 in non-smokers Small % develop liver cirrhosis a1AT
normally protects the lung from the destructive potential of neutrophil elastase; if a1AT levels are low, neutrophil elastase slowly destroys the lung parenchyma Current therapy to protect the lung - weekly intravenous infusions of 4 gm of human
a1AT purified from pooled plasma
Pathogenesis of 1-Antitrypsin
Deficiency 1-antitrypsin Neutrophil elastase Lungs Liver Neutrophils Bone marrow Glu342GAG Lys342AAG Z mutation Liver hepatocyte
Augmentation Therapy with Purified
Human a1-Antitrypsin Developed by Gadek and Crystal in 1981 FDA approved in 1988 Administration IV 60 mg/kg (~4 g), once weekly Safe - minimal adverse reactions Cost ~$100,000/yr
Lungs Liver Bone marrow Neutrophils
Neutrophil elastase 1-antitrypsin A. Pathogenesis D.Epithelial lining fluid anti-neutrophil elastase capacity before and after augmentation therapy Normal ZZ pre-therapy ZZ 6 days post- therapy 1 2 3 4 5 ELF anti-neutrophil elastase capacity
(mM) C.Serum 1AT following augmentation therapy with intravenous human 1AT pathogenesis Pulmonary capillary Interstitium Air Plasma proteins Endothelial cell Epithelial cell B. Alveolar endothelial-epithelial "barriers" ELF
Logic Underlying "Biochemical Efficacy" for the Lung Manifestations of 1-antitrypsin Deficiency Serum 1-antitrypsin level (mg/dl) Serum 1-antitrypsin level ( M) Days
Association of a1-Antitrypsin Serum
Levels and Risk for Emphysema MM MS SS MZ SZ ZZ Threshold 11 mM Null 0 10 20 30 40 50 a1AT serum level (mM) Phenotype At risk for emphysema Background risk
unidirectional valve parietal
extrapleural interstitium parietal lymphatic pleural space stoma microvilli basal lamina parietal pleural visceral pleural capillary pulmonary interstitum alveolus pulmonary lymphatic A. Anatomy of the human pleura AAV vector coding for normal human
a1AT B.Intrapleural gene therapy strategy Local production of 1AT AAVha1AT a1AT Mesothelial cells Lung Intravascular AAV 1AT AAV 1AT from the pleura via lymphatics to the venous circulation Hepatocyte expression of 1AT
1AT secreted into blood diffuses across the alveoli Logic for Intrapleural Gene Transfer to Treat 1-antitrypsin Deficiency
Time post-injection (wk) Serum human
a1-antitrypsin levels (% of maximum) 0.1 1 10 100 0 1 2 3 4 Undetectable AAVch.5 AAVhu.11 AAVhu.41 AAVhu.47 AAVrh.34 AAVhu.1 AAVhu.13 AAVrh.16 AAVrh.24 AAVrh.22 AAVrh.21 AAVrh.13 AAVbb.2 AAV2 AAVcy.5 AAV7 AAVrh.2 AAVrh.8 AAVrh.43 AAVrh.20 AAVhu.37
AAV5 AAV9 AAV8 AAVrh.10 Vector Clade/ clone Species of origin E Rhesus macaque E Rhesus macaque E-D Rhesus macaque E-D Rhesus macaque E-D Rhesus macaque Serum Human a1AT Levels Following Intrapleural Administration to C57Bl/6 Mice of 25 Different
Serotypes of AAV Expressing a1AT E Rhesus macaque F Human AAV5 Human E Human E Rhesus macaque E Rhesus macaque Rh.8 Rhesus macaque E Rhesus macaque D Rhesus macaque D Cynomolgus macaque B Human B Baboon B Human D Human C Human rh.34 Rhesus macaque B
Human E Human C Human Ch.5 Chimpanzee
0 1 2 4 6 12 1 10 102 103 104 24
Time post-injection (wk) Human a1AT level in serum (mg/ml) Naive AAVrh.10h 1AT 0-24 wk Evaluate AAVrh.10h 1AT 1011 genome copies (gc) Intrapleural Human 1AT level in serum (ELISA) C57BL/6 mice n = 4/group Time Course of Serum Human
1AT Levels Following Intrapleural Administration of AAVrh.10h 1AT Therapeutic target 11 M
12 wk Evaluate Serum and lavage
human 1AT (ELISA) C57BL/6 mice n = 4/group Human 1AT Levels in Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Compared to Serum Following Intrapleural Administration of AAVrh.10h 1AT Human a1AT (mg/mg protein) Naive AAVrh.10h 1AT Serum Serum
Lavage Lavage 0 10 20 30 40 AAVrh.10h 1AT 1011 gc, intrapleural
Ultrasonography-guided Intrapleural
Administration of AAVrh.10h 1AT to African Green Monkeys Single intrapleural injection of 1012 or 1013 genome copies of AAVrh.10ha1AT to African Green Monkeys (n=36) Quantify human 1AT mRNA in chest wall up to 1 yr All safety / toxicology
parameters normal at all time points Days after AAVrh.10h 1AT administration 107 105 104 103 102 28 90 360 0 Limit of detection 1013 gc AAVrh.10h 1AT 1012 gc AAVrh.10h 1AT PBS 106 h 1AT copies/mg of total RNA
Hereditary Angioedema Autosomal
dominant disorder associated with episodic attacks of swelling of face, extremities, genitals, GI tract and upper airways Airway edema can be life threatening Triggered by trauma, surgery, dental work, menstruation, medications, viral illness,
stress Affects 1 in 10,000-50,000 15,000-30,000 emergency room visits/yr in the US
Hereditary Angioedema (2) Caused by
mutations of the SERPING1 gene, coding for C1 esterase inhibitor (C1EI) that regulates the complement system C1EI - single chain, 510 residue, 105 kDa, glycosylated serine anti-protease expressed 10 by hepatocytes SERPING1 mutations result in
reduced serum levels in C1EI (80-85% cases) or functional C1EI deficiency (15-20%) C1EI deficiency results in up-regulation of bradykinin, causing edema via leaky vessels 6-8,000 patients in the US Approved/reimbursed prophylactic recombinant C1EI
therapy reduces number and severity of attacks, but requires 2x/week infusion and costs $500,000/yr
Gene Therapy for Hereditary
Angioedema Proof-of-concept studies cannot be discussed at this time due to patent filings in progress
Friedreich Ataxia Approximately
5,000 patients in the US, 5,000-10,000 in Europe Autosomal recessive, results from variants in the frataxin (FXN) gene, a nuclear gene coding for a mitochondrial protein associated with iron sulfur clusters Impairs dorsal root ganglia, spinal cord
and cerebellum resulting in gait ataxia, gradually worsening and spreading to the arms and the trunk, slurred and slowed speech Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, >60% of patients die from cardiac events No effective therapy
MCK Mouse Model Recapitulating the
Cardiomyopathy of Friedrich Ataxia Absence of the frataxin protein in myocardium and skeletal muscle MCK 4 5 7 11 0 Death 8 Progressive left ventricle (LV) systolic dysfunction Cell death and fibrosis Progressive LV hypertrophy and dilation
Progressive cardiomyopathy Iron sulfur cluster deficit in heart Mitochondrial anomalies and cardiac iron deposits Biochemical features Cardiac hypertrophy (10 wk) Cardiac fibrosis (10 wk) Time (wk) Mutant Control Age (wk) CII/CIV activity (% WT)
Succinate dehydrogenase activity 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 25 125 100 75 50 0 *
3 MCK Evaluation of survival and
multiple cardiac phenotypes 5 7 Intravenous AAVrh10.hFXN 5.4x1013 vg/kg) 22 35 60 Time (wk) MCK Mice in Heart Failure Treated with AAVrh.10.hFXN Advanced heart failure
Untreated AAVrh10hFXN-treated Normal
A. Correction of hypertrophy B. Correction of cardiac function C. Survival Some treated mice die from late myopathy (MCK mice, not patients, have myopathy) AAVrh10hFXN Treatment of MCK Mice with Heart Failure at 7 wk - Rapid Normalization 22 18 14
10 20 16 12 8 0 80 60 40 20 Wk Left ventricle mass (mg) 40 30 20 10 0 22 18 14 10 20 16 12 8 Wk Shortening fraction (%) 22 18 14 6 10 2 Wk 100 80 40 20 0 60 Survival (%) Untreated AAVrh10hFXN-treated Normal Untreated AAVrh10hFXN-treated
Identifying a Robust Cardiac
Phenotype for Cardiac Freidreich's Ataxia Gene Therapy Studies to identify cardiac parameters Department of Genetic Medicine, Weill Cornell H pital Universitaire Piti -Salp tri re, Paris Parameters Genetic Neurologic
Cardiac Serology Cardiac echo Cardiac mri Exercise CDG PET CT
Severe Allergy - Example
Peanut Allergy Common food allergy, manifests with itchiness, urticaria, swelling, eczema, asthma, abdominal pain, hypotension and anaphylaxis Can be fatal 0.4-0.6% US population, 4,000 diagnosed/yr (11/day); most common cause of anaphylaxis