Preclinical Study Shows IVA337’s Potential in Treating SSc Skin and Cardiovascular Complications
Inventiva’s lead therapy candidate IVA337 for the treatment of systemic sclerosis (SSc) was shown to prevent the progression of lung fibrosis and the remodeling of blood vessels in preclinical animal models of lung fibrosis and systemic sclerosis.
These findings will be the subject of a presentation during the upcoming 15th International Workshop on Scleroderma Research, Aug. 5-9 at the University of Pittsburgh. The study titled, “PAN-PPAR Agonist IVA337 is Effective in the Prevention of Experimental Lung Fibrosis and Pulmonary Hypertension,” was selected among the best papers of the workshop.
“The paper highlights new data, which confirm the wide anti-fibrotic activity of IVA337, especially in the organs of patients affected by SSc,” Yannick Allanore, principal investigator and president of the European Scleroderma Trials and Research group, said in a press release. “The preservation of pulmonary activity is impressive and could indicate that IVA337 could meet a high unmet medical need in SSc patients.”
“We are very pleased to have been selected among the best papers being presented during this international systemic sclerosis congress,” said Pierre Broqua, PhD, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Inventiva. “The congress draws interest from leaders in translational medicine and we are proud to see the high level of interest in the activity of IVA337 among this elite group.”
To date, approved therapies have not been effective at preventing, delaying, or reversing fibrosis progression. They have shown only to attenuate the disease’s symptoms. Therapy candidate IVA337 was designed to activate three peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) known to play key roles in controlling the fibrotic process.
The latest preclinical data showed that IVA337 could protect animal models from developing lung fibrosis compared with animals treated with a placebo. A similar effect was seen in animal models of systemic sclerosis. The treatment also prevented blood vessel remodeling and associated pulmonary hypertension when compared with a placebo.
“These findings confirm that the pan-PPAR agonist IVA337 is an appealing therapeutic candidate for systemic sclerosis both for skin and key cardiovascular complications,” the researchers wrote.
The preclinical results were subject of an oral presentation during the 2017 Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Madrid, Spain.
Inventiva is currently recruiting participants for its FASST Phase 2b trial (NCT02503644), which expects to include up to 132 adult patients with diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis across more than 50 sites in Europe. The trial was designed to determine the effectiveness of IVA337 in changing disease progression compared with a placebo control.
More information about the clinical trial and how to participate can be found at this link.
