āshibio, a clinical-stage biotechnology company founded on technology developed in the laboratory of Fred Kaplan, MD, the Isaac and Rose Nassau Professor of Orthopaedic Molecular Medicine at Penn Medicine, announced the dosing of the first participant in its Phase 2/3 clinical trial for its lead candidate, andecaliximab, in patients with fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP). FOP is a rare genetic disease that causes muscles, tendons and ligaments to gradually turn into bone.
Andecaliximab is a humanized antibody that specifically inhibits the matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) enzyme, which researchers discovered is a potentially novel therapeutic target for FOP. This treatment has the potential to successfully treat FOP and other bone and connective tissue disorders. Read more here.