A study completed in 2015 (Krug et al, 2015) found that the drug SB010 can alleviate the symptoms of eosinophilic asthma. On the basis of this, a DZL team investigated to what extent SB010 also has an effect in COPD patients. The background is the observation that some of the COPD patients have an increased number of eosinophilic granulocytes - a specialized group of immune cells. The drug might, therefore, also be used for the treatment of COPD. SB010 is a so-called DNAzyme, a molecule that destroys the mRNA of the target protein and, thus, prevents its action.

In the study, COPD patients inhaled the drug over a period of 28 days. In fact, the proportion of eosinophils decreased compared to patients who received an ineffective placebo. However, various parameters of lung function remained largely unchanged and the patient's condition remained the same. The latter was examined with a questionnaire.
The key finding of this Phase IIa trial is that the drug is medically safe to use, as it did not cause serious side effects throughout the observation period. However, the desired clinical effect was smaller than expected. All results were recently published in the journal Respiratory Research. A future study on SB010 in a larger group of patients could reveal whether the observed effect on the disease symptoms is therapeutically relevant.

In this study, the ARCN (LungenClinic Grosshansdorf and PRI) worked with Prof. Dr. med. Jens Hohlfeld, scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine from the DZL site BREATH in Hannover together with the Philipps-Universität Marburg (UGMLC) as well as the industrial partner Sterna Biologicals. Sterna is a spin-off of the University of Marburg and holds the rights to the substance. The DZL partners succeeded in raising funds for the study from the DZL Clinical Trial Board, which selects innovative clinical trials in a competitive process.

Source: Greulich T, Hohlfeld JM, Neuser P, Lueer K, Klemmer A, Schade-Brittinger C, Harnisch S, Garn H, Renz H, Homburg U, Renz J, Kirsten A, Pedersen F, Müller M, Vogelmeier CF, Watz H (2018). A GATA3-specific DNAzyme attenuates sputum eosinophilia in eosinophilic COPD patients: a feasibility randomized clinical trial. Respir Res 19: 5

Text: ARCN / J. Bullwinkel
Picture: Tom Figiel