The Need
Inflammatory diseases are major threats to human health and are associated with significant mortality as well as costs for society. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) three out of five people die because of chronic inflammatory diseases including diseases such as stroke, chronic respiratory diseases, heart disorders, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. There is a wide range of inflammatory diseases with a high unmet medical need that potentially can be treated with novel drugs based on Thrombin-derived C-terminal peptides, including diseases such as myocardial disease, arthritis, sepsis, ARDS, Behçet’s disease, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and mucositis.
The Solution
Our primary drug candidate TIM-03, is a designed peptide based on the structure of natural Thrombin-derived C-terminal peptides (TCPs) with potentially broad utility as a treatment for inflammatory diseases. TIM-03, has been optimized for systemic use by locking the peptide in the active form generating a novel peptide with increased potency and stability compared to the natural TCPs. The targeted design, structure, mechanism of action and efficacy of the peptide was published in Nature Communication in 2023 and protected as intellectual property. TIM-03 act very early in the inflammatory cascade and is unique in its ability to balance out inflammation by binding to both the mediators of inflammation and to the receptor for these mediators. In addition, the peptide has anti-microbial activity through electrostatic lytic activity of bacterial cell walls. This multi-mode-of-action open treatment opportunities for TIM-03 within a set of diseases caused and/or driven by bacterial infections.
"We mimic nature's powerful mechanisms in the design of new groundbreaking therapeutics for inflammatory diseases."
Artur Schmidtchen, MD, Prof. – Founder
Data
TIM-03 has been shown to reduce inflammation both in vitro and in vivo by binding both to the mediators of inflammation (PAMPs and DAMPs) released during injury and infections, and to the receptors (CD14) for these mediators on innate immune cells.
TIM-03 binds CD14
TIM-03 binds endotoxins
TIM-03 reduces cytokine release in vivo.
TIM-03 abrogates the upregulation of inflammatory genes in vivo. Heatmap of core enriched genes.
IPR
TIM-03 has been optimized through modification, and its design, structure, and composition of matter are protected by recently filed patent applications that, once approved, will protect the asset at least until the 2040s. The strategy includes filing patent applications in major pharmaceutical markets such as the U.S., Europe, China, Canada, and Australia, with plans to further extend the patent portfolio both geographically and temporally.