XBiotech’s True Human product IL-1 alpha is to be used in researching treatment for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

US company XBiotech Inc, a developer of True Human(TM) therapeutic antibodies, has started a collaboration designed to find treatments for IBD.

The company is working with a research team at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine headed by leading gastroenterologist, Fabio Cominelli, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Cominelli and his research team will conduct pre-clinical studies to help develop new treatments using the company’s approach to using natural human antibody therapy to neutralise harmful inflammation.

Dr. Cominelli is a world-leading expert in inflammatory bowel disease and his group was the first to report that specific blockade of interleukin-1 (IL-1) was effective in reducing disease severity in colitis and that deregulated inflammation is a cause of auto-inflammatory diseases, including IBD.

The doctor, Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Liver Disease and Director of the Digestive Health Institute at CWRU School of Medicine in Cleveland and Chief Scientific Officer of the Digestive Health Institute at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, said: “I have researched IL-1’s role in disease severity in colitis for many years, and am excited about the opportunity to be able to selectively inhibit IL-1 alpha to better define its role in IBD. These results will help shape the design of future clinical trials as we look for new and better treatments for this widespread condition.”

John Simard, the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are hopeful that this collaboration will provide for further advances in treatment.”