GC Green Cross Presents Rare Bleeding Disorder Pipeline at International Conference

GC Green Cross announced on the 29th that it presented trends in the development of treatments for rare bleeding disorders at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) 2023 Congress held in Montreal, Canada, from the 24th to the 28th.

GC Green Cross Headquarters. [Photo by GC Green Cross]

ISTH is a specialized medical academic conference where experts on various blood disorders such as blood coagulation and thrombosis share the latest research and study treatments. At this congress, GC Green Cross conducted an oral presentation on 'GC1126A,' a treatment under development for thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and a poster presentation on 'MG1113,' a hemophilia antibody treatment.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare blood coagulation disorder in which small blood clots form throughout the body, blocking blood flow to major organs such as the brain, heart, and kidneys. Without appropriate treatment such as plasma exchange therapy, it is often fatal. The pathogenesis is known to be due to a deficiency or functional impairment caused by autoantibodies of ADAMTS13, an enzyme that cleaves von Willebrand factor (vWF).

GC1126A, being developed as a treatment for TTP, is a mutated protein that evades autoantibodies against ADAMTS13 while increasing its half-life. GC Green Cross explained that in this presentation, GC1126A showed superior efficacy and maintained higher activity compared to existing drugs (caplacizumab) or wild-type ADAMTS13 (WT-ADAMTS13) in a disease mouse model.

Nam Hyun-ja, head of the Discovery3 team at GC Green Cross, who gave the presentation, said, "These results demonstrate that GC1126A could be a potential new treatment option for TTP patients."

Additionally, clinical phase 1 results studying the safety and tolerability of MG1113, a hemophilia antibody treatment, were presented as a poster. Unlike existing drugs that directly inject the deficient coagulation factors into the blood, MG1113 is being developed as a hemophilia treatment antibody that binds to TFPI (Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor), an inhibitor of the extrinsic pathway, thereby promoting blood coagulation. Unlike the existing factor VIII drugs, it can be administered subcutaneously (SC), which is expected to improve patient convenience.

The healthy volunteer cohort for this phase 1 clinical trial was conducted by Professor Ji-young Park of Clinical Pharmacology at Korea University Anam Hospital, and the hemophilia cohort was conducted by Professor Jung-woo Han of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Yonsei Cancer Hospital. In this single-dose study, MG1113 showed a good safety profile up to 3.3 mg/kg in both groups.

Professor Han said, "MG1113 is a domestic new drug for hemophilia and an antibody-based treatment," adding, "We expect it to provide a better treatment environment with the advantages of subcutaneous administration and use in hemophilia patients with antibodies."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.