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Infectious disease - replacement therapy

Partnered with Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc., the product is currently enrolling in three clinical trials.

Mannan-binding lectin (MBL) is a constitutively expressed anti-antibody playing a key role in the first line of the human immune defence. MBL binds to carbohydrate structures on the surface of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Through MBL-associated serine proteases (MASPs) it mediates deposition of complement factors on the cell surface, resulting in opsonization of the cell, assembly of the membrane attack complex and ultimately destruction of the microorganism.

A subset of the human population is functionally MBL-deficient due to genetic mutations. This deficiency is not a problem as such for the general population. But MBL-deficiency is a problem for immuno-compromised individuals such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy . In these patients a strong correlation between MBL-deficiency and the occurrence of clinically significant infections is observed. Furthermore, patients with cystic fibrosis, who are also MBL-deficient, have a life expectancy 8-years shorter, than MBL sufficient individuals, due to increased bacterial colonisation of the lung. MBL-deficiency has also been observed in a number of other diseases of infectious origin. NatImmune is developping recombinant MBL for replacement therapy in selected MBL-deficient individuals.

Click on the above image to open a Flash animation of MBL assembly and function.