Aslan Pharmaceuticals announces four abstracts at ISID meeting

ASLAN Pharmaceuticals announced the acceptance of two late-breaker abstracts – one on eblasakimab and one on farudodstat – for presentation at the 1st International Societies for Investigative Dermatology, ISID, Meeting. Late-breaker presentations: Late-breaker oral presentation: Downstream effects of IL-13alpha1 blockade on Type 2 inflammation and Th1 immune axis activation in atopic dermatitis, Late-breaker poster presentation: A novel ex vivo model of human hair follicle immune privilege collapse reveals the potential of farudodstat, a DHODH inhibitor, as a therapeutic for alopecia areata treatment. 2023 ISID published abstracts – Abstract 1: Eblasakimab monotherapy improves moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis symptoms across anatomical regions in a Phase 1 study. The clinical presentation of AD varies by anatomical location due to differences in skin area sensitivity and can limit an individual’s long-term treatment options. Current research shows that interleukin-4 and IL-13 signal through a Type 2 receptor complex composed of IL-4Ralpha1 and IL-13Ralpha1 to mediate the pathogenesis of AD. Eblasakimab obstructs this signaling cascade by binding to the IL-13Ralpha1 subunit. The Phase 1b subgroup analysis explored the effects of eblasakimab on Eczema Area and Severity Index across different anatomical regions compared to placebo. Abstract 2: Neuromodulation beyond itch is blocked by targeting IL-13Ralpha1 with eblasakimab. IL-4 and IL-13, two cytokines that play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of AD, are associated with high-burden symptoms such as chronic itch. This study evaluated 1) whether IL-4 and IL-13 exert redundant or distinct functions in human sensory neurons, and whether eblasakimab can 2) attenuate cytokine-enhanced neuronal responses to itch and 3) reduce spontaneous neuronal activity. Human dorsal root ganglia neurons were treated with IL-4, IL-13, or their combination with or without eblasakimab and subsequently either challenged with pruritogens or tested for spontaneous neuronal activity. When applied to human dorsal root ganglion, IL-4, IL-13, and their combination treatments enhanced neuronal responses to the non-histaminergic pruritogen and IL-13 treatment increased neuronal responses to the histaminergic pruritogen through amplifications of the activity of MRGPRX2. Eblasakimab significantly hampered cytokine-enhanced itch responses to both pruritogens.These results reveal that IL-4 and IL-13 exert nonredundant neuronal function and demonstrate the ability of eblasakimab to block these effects. This indicates that direct impact on neuronal responses may contribute to reduction of chronic itch demonstrated in AD patients treated with eblasakimab.