·       New research published in Nature group journal illustrates previously unknown role of IL-22 in immune cell-mediated small intestine defense and infection protection.

·       Study results highlight the potential of Evive Biotech’s IL-22 dimer, F-652, to address unmet medical needs in a multitude of indications.

Mucosal Immunology, a leading international scientific journal by Nature Research, has published new research that demonstrates how IL-22 plays a critical role in the maturation of Paneth cells, and therefore downstream impacts on important immune-regulated gut health and infection protection. IL-22, F-652 is one of Evive Biotech’s key assets, which is currently in development for several inflammatory disorders.

The manuscript, IL-22 receptor signaling in Paneth cells is critical for their maturation, microbiota colonization, Th17-related immune responses, and anti-Salmonella immunity, was co-authored by a team of researchers at Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, reporting on a study, using F-652 in Paneth cell-specific IL-22Ra1 knockout mice, that described a previously unknown role of IL-22 in small intestine cell host defense.

“This important study builds on our rapidly expanding understanding for the array of roles IL-22 has on gut health and in other tissues,” said Dr. William Daley, Evive Biotech’s Chief Medical Officer. “These results point to F-652’s potential to address unmet medical needs in a multitude of indications, and support our ambition of providing revolutionary remedies to treat complex and challenging conditions in patients worldwide.”

“Evive Biotech supports the biopharmaceutical research community through collaborations such as our relationship with Stony Brook University,” said Dr. Jubo Liu, Evive Biotech’s CEO.  “We look forward to further collaborative opportunities and are committed to seeing them turn into tangible results for patients through Evive’s research and development capabilities. My congratulations to the research team on this achievement.”

The full manuscript is available at the Nature website.

About IL-22

IL-22 is produced by activated immune cells in response to inflammation or infection and primarily acts on epithelial cells and stroma cells through binding to its receptors selectively expressed on the surface of these cell types. Once bound to its receptors, IL-22 promotes proliferation, remodeling, and repairing of various tissues and organs to maintain innate host defense mechanisms that control the invasion of pathogens. IL-22 plays a broad role in protecting damages to barrier integrity and tissue homeostasis induced by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and chemicals.

About Paneth cells

Paneth cells provide host defense against microbes in the small intestine. They are functionally similar to neutrophils. When exposed to bacteria or bacterial antigens, Paneth cells secrete a number of antimicrobial molecules into the lumen of the crypt, thereby contributing to maintenance of the gastrointestinal barrier.

About F-652

F-652 is a novel dimeric IL-22 fusion protein currently in multiple development programs for the treatment of inflammatory diseases.  IL-22 has been shown to have natural growth promoting activity in epithelial cells to combat organ injuries induced by a variety of causes and eventual fatal organ failures.  Published literature and Evive’s completed clinical trials have presented F-652 with opportunities to treat multiple diseases, some of which Evive is actively pursuing or developing, including acute graft vs host disease (GvHD) and acute alcoholic hepatitis.