Sanjay Shukla, MD, the president and CEO of aTyr Pharma, discusses the development of its ATYR1923 therapy for pulmonary sarcoidosis, including clinical trials currently under way.
Pulmonary sarcoidosis is an interstitial lung disease characterized by the development and growth of tiny lumps of cells called granulomas, which grow and clump together in the lungs, affecting the organ’s structure and function. Over time, this can lead to permanent scarring or thickening of lung tissue (also called fibrosis). The mortality rate for sarcoidosis is less than 5%. In the United States, mortality is most commonly due to respiratory failure from severe scarring of lung tissue or heart involvement.
ATYR1923 is a potential disease-modifying therapy for patients with severe inflammatory lung diseases with high unmet medical need. ATYR1923 works by selectively modulating Neuropilin-2 (NRP2) to downregulate the innate and adaptive immune responses in uncontrolled inflammatory disease states to resolve inflammation and prevent subsequent fibrosis. ATYR1923 is conducting a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in pulmonary sarcoidosis, a major form of interstitial lung disease (ILD), a group of immune-mediated disorders that cause progressive fibrosis of the lung, and a Phase 2 trial in patients with Covid-19 related respiratory complications.
aTyr is conducting a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for ATYR1923 in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. This trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multiple-ascending dose, first-in-patient study in 36 patients. The study is being conducted in patients with confirmed active pulmonary sarcoidosis undergoing an oral corticosteroid (OCS) tapering regimen, in three cohorts of 12 patients each, at dose levels of 1.0 mg/kg, 3.0 mg/kg and 5.0 mg/kg IV ATYR1923 or placebo dosed every month for 6 months.
Learn more about pulmonary sarcoidosis and other rare lung diseases.