Committed to transforming
the treatment of severe, chronic
autoimmune diseases.

Committed to transforming
the treatment of severe, chronic
autoimmune diseases.

Technology


ImotopesTM: Next Generation
Immunotherapeutics

ImotopesTM are a next generation immunotherapy that have the potential to address a wide range of diseases in the field of immunology. Our current focus is to find new therapies for patients suffering from severe, chronic autoimmune diseases where our pioneering approach could prevent, treat and potentially cure some of the most challenging and underserved conditions.

 

The ImotopeTM Technology

The challenge of current therapies

Autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s cells and tissues. Few therapies address the underlying causes of the disease and those that do often cause a generalized immune suppression, to the point that the immune system cannot mount a proper response leading to severe side effects such as the inability to fight infection or control cancers. The side effects from some treatments are so severe that many patients stop treatment even if they are somewhat effective.

Existing therapies can also require daily medication or periodic hospital infusions.

Most other drugs simply alleviate the symptoms or temporarily halt the immune attack.

For all autoimmune disorders there are no cures and innovation is needed. 

Imotopes™ are simple peptide molecules, injected sub cutaneously, which stimulate an immune response that blocks the autoimmune pathways. They have the potential to have long lasting effects that stop the progression of the disease.

Current therapies are generally:

STEROID

ANTIBODIES
F.e. against anti CD19 or CD20 positive cells or certain immune modulators such as anti TNF antibodies

PEPTIDES,
PROTEINS & SMALL MOLECULES

CELL BASED THERAPIES

    The challenges of current therapies

    Our ImotopesTM a new solution

  • Unspecific – cause a generalized immune suppression of both the disease pathways but also the important pathways of the immune system

    Antigen specific – ImotopesTM only suppress the disease pathway which allows for highly effective tailored therapy

  • Significant side effects – due to immune suppression, increased risk of infection and inability to control cancers

    Good Safety Profile – targeting the disease pathway only while we leave the rest of the immune system functioning

  • Require frequent dosing – often requires daily medication or periodic hospital based infusions

    Long lasting – ImotopesTM are administered like a vaccine, inducing long lasting effects through the induction of memory cells

  • Challenging and expensive to manufacture

    Although highly specific, Imotopes™ are short peptides made with standard pharmaceutical processes, easily synthesized and stable. The do not have the challenges of therapies such as cell based products

ImotopesTM – a new solution

Autoantigens are natural proteins that are immunogenic when normal tolerance is broken (where the body’s immune system sees them as “foreign” and begins to mount an immune response).

Imotopes™ are short peptides that simulate an immune response to rebalance the aberrant autoimmune response. We take a sequence from the autoantigen called epitope (the light blue) and construct our peptide from that core. Importantly we add a sequence from the thioredoxin enzyme (the red) to give this peptide its biological effect.

When ImotopesTM are injected, they stimulate a new class of immune cells, called cytolytic CD4+ cells that specifically targets the disease pathway and knocks out a key cells in the autoimmune cascade. Importantly, these cytolytic T cells do not affect the rest of the immune system which continues to function. By interrupting the autoimmune cascade, Imotopes™ prevents further tissue damage and halts disease progression.

Imotopes™ also induce memory cytolytic CD4+ T cells, which provide long-lasting treatment effects with infrequent dosing, like a vaccine.

Broad applicability

In addition to autoimmune diseases, Imcyse’s technology has potential in allergy, cancer and other diseases.

The technology could also be applied as an “add-on” therapy to other drugs or biologics to prevent the progression of immunogenicity and loss of efficacy with chronic administration - such as with monoclonal antibodies or replacement enzymes. Furthermore, it may eliminate the immune response against the viral vectors that are used in gene therapies.

Antoon Van Oosterhout

Ph.D, Chief Scientific Officer

©imcyse 2023