Developing Drug Targeting B Cells in Autoimmune Disease of the Kidney IgA Nephropathy with Dr. Marshall Fordyce Vera Therapeutics

Dr. Marshall Fordyce, CEO and Founder of Vera Therapeutics, discusses the company's patient-centric approach to developing new medicines for autoimmune diseases. Vera is currently in Phase 3 with a molecule called Atacicept, which targets B cells in autoimmune diseases. They focus on IgA nephropathy, a rare kidney disease, and the third most common cause of kidney failure. A key concern is that declining kidney function is often misdiagnosed and not screened for because the early warning signs are so subtle.

Marshall explains, "Let me give you an example of our lead indication. So, our molecule in development is called atacicept. It targets the immune system in the specific area of B cells, and B cells are the factories of our antibodies, which we need to fight infection over our lifetime. But in patients with autoimmune disease, these B cells are overstimulated, they're overactive, and there are only a few medicines that target B cells with an appropriate balance of safety and efficacy. We had an insight that the science told us that by inhibiting two key factors in the body, BAFF and APRIL, we could normalize that overactivity of B cells and have better outcomes."

"Now traditional drug development may be long and expensive. We were very strategic in picking IgA nephropathy. This is an area that has had very little drug development over the last decade. A few small companies started to become interested in this area, and thankfully, because of patient advocacy, the FDA allowed a surrogate endpoint in Phase 3 trials, which made it more efficient to bring this molecule forward. So, there are now two drugs on the market for the first time in the last three or four years, for two new drugs in IgA nephropathy. They don't target B cells, which is really what's driving this disease. They work downstream, or they're nonspecific."

"What Vera did differently is that we thought that we could actually demonstrate that kidney function, which in these young patients is declining at an alarming rate, if we could demonstrate that kidney function doesn't decline, that would be meaningful. It would be a significant leap. We don't see that happen in "traditional" drug development often, in my view. So, I think what's different here is that we're picking an area where we think we can intervene and, in early-stage development, show a meaningful improvement in outcomes for patients."

#VeraTherapeutics #KidneyDisease #RareDisease #BCells #Immunotherapy #AutoimmuneDiseases #IgANephropathy

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