aTyr Pharma announces publication of Phase 1b/2a clinical trial ofefzofitimod

aTyr Pharma announced the publication of a post hoc analysis of the Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of its lead therapeutic candidate, efzofitimod, in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, a major form of interstitial lung disease, in the European Respiratory Journal. The publication is entitled “Therapeutic Doses of Efzofitimod Demonstrate Efficacy in Pulmonary Sarcoidosis.” The publication reports findings from a post hoc analysis of a pre-specified endpoint in the Phase 1b/2a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 24-week study of efzofitimod in 37 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis receiving oral corticosteroid treatment who underwent a forced steroid taper in the first 8 weeks of the study. In this pooled analysis, the time-to-first-relapse was significantly shorter in the subtherapeutic group than in the therapeutic group. The median time-to-first-relapse in the subtherapeutic group was 126 days, whereas only one of 17 patients in the therapeutic group had relapsed by the end of the study. Furthermore, 54.4% of patients in the subtherapeutic group relapsed for steroid use following steroid taper, compared to 7.7% of patients in the therapeutic group. Efzofitimod is a tRNA synthetase derived therapy that selectively modulates activated myeloid cells through neuropilin-2 to resolve inflammation without immune suppression and potentially prevent the progression of fibrosis. Efzofitimod is currently being investigated in the global pivotal Phase 3 EFZO-FIT study in 268 pulmonary sarcoidosis patients Efzofitimod has received orphan drug designation in the U.S., E.U. and Japan for sarcoidosis and Fast Track designation in the U.S. for pulmonary sarcoidosis. The Phase 1b/2a study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multiple-ascending dose clinical trial in 37 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis.