Kine Sciences has dosed the first subject in its Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial of KINE-101, a new nano peptide aimed at treating chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP).

KINE-101, which operates by activating Treg cells, is designed to modulate both humoral immunity and cell-mediated immune responses.

This development follows the successful completion of a Phase I study in October last year, which demonstrated an excellent safety profile for KINE-101.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted clearance in September 2021 for the Phase I study, which involved 40 healthy participants across five cohorts over 42 days.

The trial included four cohorts receiving intravenous doses of KINE-101 ranging from 10mg to 300mg and one cohort receiving a 96.8mg subcutaneous dose.

Apart from CIDP indication, the asset is also being assessed for other conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Founded in 2016, Kine Sciences is focused on developing ultra-small peptides for immune-mediated diseases based on functional immunomics.

Its peptides stem from a new anti-inflammatory cytokine that targets various immune cells, offering potential benefits such as a favourable pharmacokinetic versus pharmacodynamic profile, reduced immunogenicity and antigenicity, production costs, and potential for oral dosing.

Kine Sciences CEO Dae Ho Cho said: “Dosing the first patient marks our first programme in the clinic and represents an important milestone for our company.

“We look forward to the clinical data that will support the strong efficacy that we have seen in the preclinical studies. KINE-101 has a unique mechanism of action that targets what we believe is an underlying cause of the disease and differentiates it from symptomatic treatments. Moving forward, KINE-101 has the potential to offer more effective treatment options for CIDP patients either as a standalone therapy or in combination with existing treatments.”