Regeneron has built a pipeline of preclinical and clinical candidates to address a variety of immune and inflammatory disorders.
Autoimmunity and Cytokines
Autoimmune diseases are a group of debilitating disorders whose prevalence is on the rise. Autoimmunity occurs when the immune system attacks the body's own cells. Immune cells, including T and B cells, communicate using proteins called cytokines. However, overproduction of cytokines can induce harmful inflammatory responses. Cytokine overexpression has been implicated in autoimmune disease such as:
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus)
- Inflammatory bowel and Crohn's diseases
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Type I diabetes (juvenile diabetes)
Using its technologies Regeneron has developed investigational compounds that are designed to block the actions of overactive cytokines. Regeneron's most advanced product candidate is IL-1 Trap.
Highlights
In certain disease settings, the normal cellular structures of the intestines are severely affected by overexpression of inflammatory cytokines, leading to mucus overproduction and infiltration of inflammatory cells. All of the negative effects can be eliminated by cytokine blockade.
T cells play critical roles in various immune-related disorders. Progenitor T cells (TH0) differentiate into functionally distinct T cell subsets (TH1, TH2, TH17 or Treg) under the influence of specific cytokines.
The fully-differentiated T cell subtypes influence the immune system in part through the secretion of specific
cytokines. These cytokines can play positive roles in the defense against pathogens (bacteria, viruses, parasites), negative roles
in inducing inflammation or autoimmunity (allergy, asthma, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease etc.) or roles that can
be positive or negative depending on context (immunosuppression).