LYON, France & PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ERYtech Pharma will in the near future present their promising results obtained with the GR-ARA1 project for the treatment of sickle cell disease.
Four oral communications will be given at major specialist Congresses:
- Annual Congress of the French Society of Hematology (SFH) in Paris, France (March 10-12, 2011),
- 6th Congress of Sickle Cell in Strasbourg, France (April 12-15, 2011),
- XXV Congress of the French Society of Blood Transfusion (SFTS) in Lyon, France (May 3-6, 2011),
- 17th Annual International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) Meeting in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (May 18-21, 2011)
GR-ARA1 is a product developed by ERYtech Pharma to enhance oxygen delivery to hypoxic tissues. The company has focused on a first application in Sickle Cell Disease (SCD). SCD is an inherited blood disorder characterized by chronic anemia and blood hyperviscosity, due to the sickle conformation affecting the red blood cells under oxygen deprivation. SCD leads to serious medical consequences, including painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), and anemia. Severe SCD cases are periodically subject to painful VOC, which may cause severe complications leading to organ damage and consequently high mortality rates. Current management of severe SCD cases involves frequent blood exchange transfusions to prevent VOC. SCD is a chronic, life-long genetic blood disorder, which affects more than 90,000 new cases every year in the USA and the European countries.
GR-ARA1 was initially investigated in vitro demonstrating a reduction of sickling (published in Transfusion-2010). A preclinical study on a transgenic SCD mouse model recently demonstrated the beneficial effect of GR-ARA1 on a range of clinical and biological SCD parameters. The use of GR-ARA1 documented a significant increase in the survival rate of the mice. Furthermore it induced a major decrease of inflammation, prevented anemia, and reduced the main risk factors involved in VOC. These early results are very promising for a successful development of an efficient new product targeted on VOC treatment and prevention.
“It is very encouraging to receive such a great interest from the scientific and medical community. We are very excited to go ahead in the development of GR-ARA1’’, said Dr Yann Godfrin, Co-Founder, Executive Vice-President Preclinical & Clinical Research of ERYtech Pharma.
About ERYtech Pharma (www.erytech.com)
ERYtech Pharma (Lyon, Philadelphia) is a specialty pharma company developing innovative therapeutic solutions based on its proprietary technology and expertise in the physiological properties of erythrocytes. The company addresses serious pathologies, orphan indications or unaddressed sub-populations of patients, particularly in the fields of hematology, cancer and metabolic diseases.