Immutep (ASX:IMM) has confirmed it’s dosed the first human patient with its LAG-3 based autoimmune drug candidate IMP761.
LAG-3 – which stands for Lymphocyte Activation Gene 3 – is believed to be able to interfere with haywire T cells in the human body, the underlying cause of many autoimmune conditions.
T Cells and lymphocyte irregularities predict many types of blood cancer. IMP761 is intended to “specifically [silence] autoimmune memory T cells that accumulate at disease sites.”
However, the company pointed at rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis in its announcement on Wednesday. The use of LAG-3 in cancer immunotherapy is a subject about which multiple papers already exist.
Given this is the first human test, the company’s regulation officers will be carefully parsing data with thoroughly scrutinised safety numbers from the test due in the first half of next year, but, early-stage data is to be made available sooner.
The Phase I study is being conducted at the Dutch Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR) in Leiden. A total of 49 volunteers are wanted.
IMM last traded at 31cps.