Presented by Knut Lundin, MD, PhD of Norway.
Promising Results from Topas Therapeutics.
At this year’s Digestive Disease Week®, Dr. Knut Lundin of Norway presented encouraging results from a clinical trial of TPM502, an innovative new drug being tested to reduce the body’s inflammatory response to gluten.
What Is TPM502?
TPM502 is a new experimental treatment designed to teach the immune system to stop overreacting to gluten. It uses tiny particles (called nanoparticles) that carry pieces of gluten in a way that calms the body’s immune response rather than triggering it.
The Results:
In a multi center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, researchers tested TPM502 in adults with celiac disease who had the common genetic marker HLA-DQ2.5. These participants were already on a gluten-free diet. In patients given TMP502, the researchers found:
- Reduced immune response: TPM502 significantly lowered the activity of specific immune cells that cause inflammation when exposed to gluten.
- Durability: The treatment didn’t just quiet the immune response temporarily, but instead seemed to change the behavior of immune cells over the course of the study.
- Symptom reduction: After a gluten challenge, people who received TPM502 reported reduction in digestive symptoms compared to controls.
- Safety and tolerability: Side effects were generally mild, but some patients reported nausea, headache, and vomiting.
An Important Step Forward:
With no approved medications for celiac disease, expanding the pipeline of treatment options is essential for one day finding treatments and cures. TPM502 offers a new mechanism for preventing the harmful immune reaction triggered by gluten. While more research is needed, these early results are a promising step toward developing a medical treatment for celiac disease.