The role of the immune system
Our immune system is vital in protecting us from illnesses, yet in many cases it can malfunction, underreacting or overreacting to a real or perceived threat. The field of Immunology has long been at the heart of what we do at Sobi, allowing us to gain extensive experience over many years.
Within Immunology we aim to enable treatments of serious, disabling and even life-threatening diseases. With our understanding of the mechanisms involved, we are studying how our existing products and investigational therapies can potentially help in new indications, and search for new late-stage treatment candidates that show promise in other areas of unmet medical need.
Building on our history of making innovative therapies available to the people who need them, we continue to work with healthcare professionals, patient organisations and other stakeholders to enable access to our medicines for suitable patients.
Interleukin-1 and autoinflammatory diseases
The interleukin 1 (IL-1) family is a group of proinflammatory cytokines that play a central role in regulating the body's immune response. By binding to the IL-1 receptors on cells, they play a major role in acute and chronic inflammatory reactions.
In addition, the IL-1 system is also involved in several other biological functions, such as metabolic and haematopoietic activities. Members of the IL-1 family have emerged as therapeutic targets for an expanding number of autoinflammatory diseases where inhibition of IL-1 activity may form the basis for novel treatments.
IL-1 is an important factor in Still's disease, a rare, systemic autoinflammatory disease characterised by high fevers, joint pain and a rash. In rheumatoid arthritis patients, IL-1 is also elevated and correlates with various parameters of disease activity.
Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is a rare, hereditary autoinflammatory disease. It is characterised by recurrent fever attacks and pain and is therefore assigned to the periodic fever syndromes. Those affected usually have a change in the genetic information in the so-called MEVF (Mediterranean Fever) gene, which leads to uncontrolled inflammation in the body. In about 90% of those affected, disease occurs before the age of 20, in 75% before the age of 10. Typically, an FMF episode lasts between one and three days.
CAPS (cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes), a group of rare and potentially fatal autoinflammatory conditions, are characterised by excessive production of the protein interleukin 1β (IL-1β). Common symptoms include rash, periodic fevers, headaches, malaise and joint pain. The most severe form of CAPS is known as NOMID (neonatal-onset multisystem inflammatory disease) or CINCA (chronic infantile neurological, cutaneous and articular syndrome).
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory disease of the joints with a chronic-progressive course. The causes and triggers and rheumatoid arthritis are diverse and not yet fully understood. Due to a disturbance of immune regulation and an overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines, the joints become inflamed, swell, and become sensitive to pressure. The cartilage cells in the joints are increasingly destroyed.