6132 – Methods to Protect Against and Treat Multiple Sclerosis

Background & Unmet Need Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system The absence of an inflammatory infiltrate in nascent lesions suggest that disease pathogenesis may be influenced by a toxin or viral infection There is currently no cure for MS, though advances in approved therapeutics can help speed recovery from attacks and slow disease progression Unmet Need: Improved understanding of MS pathogenesis to inform development of novel therapeutics Technology Overview The Technology: Method of treating MS by administering an antibody against Epsilon toxin produced by Clostridium perfringens type B bacteria Discovery: The epsilon toxin-secreting bacillus C. perfringens is associated with the clinical presentation of MS Immunoreactivity to epsilon toxin (ETX) was 10x more prevalent in patients with MS compared to healthy controls, indicating prior exposure to ETX in the MS population In addition, ETX was shown to cause selective death of mature oligodendrocytes and CNS demyelination PoC Data: Administration of a neutralizing antibody against ETX inhibited oligodendrocyte death and demyelination, supporting a potential novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of MS Technology Applications Acute treatment of MS attacks Method for preventing disease progression Identifies C. perfringens type B and ETX as potential MS biomarkers Technology Advantages Uncovers a strong association between an environmental trigger and development of MS ETX inhibition is likely a complementary mechanism to approved MS therapies, suggesting combination therapies should be explored Publications Linden et al. “Clostridium perfringens Epsilon Toxin Causes Selective Death of Mature Oligodendrocytes and Central Nervous System Demyelination.” mBio. 2015. Rumah et al.”Isolation of Clostridium perfringens type B in an individual at first clinical presentation of multiple sclerosis provides clues for environmental triggers of the disease.” PLOS ONE. 2013. Patents US Patent: 9,758,573. “Methods to protect against and treat multiple sclerosis.” Issued Sep 9, 2017. Dan-Oscar Antson da429@cornell.edu 646-962-7042