BioLineRx Reports Positive Pre-clinical Results For BL-9020 In Type 1 Diabetes

(RTTNews) - BioLineRx Ltd. (BLRX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, reported positive pre-clinical results for BL-9020, a novel monoclonal antibody for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes. The results were published on-line in PLoS One.

BL-9020 is a novel monoclonal antibody treatment designed to prevent immune-mediated destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. It was developed to treat Type 1 diabetes in early stage patients, during what is known as the "honeymoon period," where the pancreatic beta cells have not been completely destroyed and continue to secrete insulin.

BL-9020 targets NKp46, a unique target involved in the innate response against the pancreas. Pre-clinical studies in mouse models of Type 1 diabetes suggest that BL-9020 can inhibit beta cell death, thus preventing full maturation of the disease.

This effect could significantly delay, and potentially prevent, the need for chronic insulin use by Type 1 diabetes patients, as well as provide a potential benefit in minimizing diabetes-related complications.

The new set of experiments shows that BL-9020 led to decreased levels of its target, NKp46, on murine NK cells, and specifically reduces the cytotoxic activity mediated by NKp46 in these cells.

Consequently, BL-9020 significantly delayed the onset of diabetes and lowered the incidence of Type 1 diabetes in two mouse models of diabetes.

After a single treatment of BL-9020, hyperglycemia was significantly less severe. Moreover, following a repeated long-term treatment regimen of pre-diabetic mice, 70 percent of mice treated with BL-9020 remained diabetes-free throughout the experiment which was 25 weeks, compared to only 30 percent of control-treated mice.