Controlled tetra-Fc sialylation of IVIg results in a drug candidate with consistent enhanced anti-inflammatory activity

Abstract

Despite the beneficial therapeutic effects of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) in inflammatory diseases, consistent therapeutic efficacy and potency remain major limitations for patients and physicians using IVIg. These limitations have stimulated a desire to generate therapeutic alternatives that could leverage the broad mechanisms of action of IVIg while improving therapeutic consistency and potency. The identification of the important anti-inflammatory role of fragment crystallizable domain (Fc) sialylation has presented an opportunity to develop more potent Ig therapies. However, translating this concept to potent anti-inflammatory therapeutics has been hampered by the difficulty of generating suitable sialylated products for clinical use. Therefore, we set out to develop the first, to our knowledge, robust and scalable process for generating a well-qualified sialylated IVIg drug candidate with maximum Fc sialylation devoid of unwanted alterations to the IVIg mixture. Here, we describe a controlled enzymatic, scalable process to produce a tetra-Fc–sialylated (s4-IVIg) IVIg drug candidate and its qualification across a wide panel of analytic assays, including physicochemical, pharmacokinetic, biodistribution, and in vivo animal models of inflammation. Our in vivo characterization of this drug candidate revealed consistent, enhanced anti-inflammatory activity up to 10-fold higher than IVIg across different animal models. To our knowledge, this candidate represents the first s4-IVIg suitable for clinical use; it is also a valuable therapeutic alternative with more consistent and potent anti-inflammatory activity.