Development of a Long-Acting Growth Hormone Antagonist for the Treatment of Acromegaly ECE 2016
Acromegaly & Treatment Acromegaly: Chronic debilitating condition Excess Growth hormone from pituitary tumour Results in high IGF-I Increased morbidity and mortality Primary treatment: Pituitary surgery cures ~50% Secondary medical treatment: Somatostatin analogues effective in ~60% Postcard courtesy of Wouter W. de Herder in Acromegaly and Gigantism in the 20th century ECE 2016
Tertiary Medical therapy: Pegvisomant GH Antagonist (GHA) Effective in >90% of patients Daily injections 10-30mg daily Expensive ECE 2016
Aim: Create a Second Generation GH antagonist Target product profile of weekly subcutaneous injection at <30mg per injection Design based on long-acting GH agonist: IV SC ECE 2016
GHA Candidate Molecules ECE 2016
Hypothesis The W104A mutation reduces both intra and inter-molecular interactions producing a more active molecule ECE 2016
In Vitro Bioactivity Assay SAMPLE IC50 (nM ) SEM GHA1 44 4.7 GHA2 198 25 GHA3 17 1.3 ECE 2016
Terminal half-life (hrs) PK in Rats after IV injection SAMPLE Terminal half-life (hrs) GHA1 20 GHA2 GHA3 ECE 2016
PK in Rabbits After SC Injection SAMPLE Terminal half-life (hrs) GHA1 23.6 GHA2 17.4 GHA3 40.5 ECE 2016
Rabbit Model for Analysis of IGF-1 Bielohuby, M., et al., Validation of serum IGF-I as a biomarker to monitor the bioactivity of exogenous growth hormone agonists and antagonists in rabbits. Dis Model Mech, 2014. 7(11): p. 1263-73. ECE 2016
Conclusions Site 1 mutations decrease bioactivity of fusion GHA presumed to result from intra- and inter-molecular interactions W104A mutation in GHA3 increases bioactivity presumed by reducing intra- and inter-molecular interactions GHA3 shows half-life of 20 hrs in a rat after IV and 40 hours in rabbit after SC injection Single injection GHA3 reduces IGF-1 levels in a rabbit model GHA3 candidate molecule for second generation long-acting GH antagonist ECE 2016
Acknowledgements MRC DPFS Grant, Euro 3M (3 years) Grant# X/004883-11-4 ECE 2016