Reply To: Anti-MAG treatment update

Hi Heidi,

I’m with you. We can all “camp” in line to get spots up front for Polyneuron’s anti-MAG drug Phase II trial in the USA. Phase 1 is scheduled to begin in 2019 only in Europe. So we’ve got a ways to wait for Phase II in the US but I understand they have received “orphan drug” status in Europe so hopefully the FDA will also grant this.

I think you’re right that IVIG is pushed for first line treatment of anti-MAG due to cheaper cost than the more effective Rituximab treatment; but they say it is due to safety concerns. The Hematologist/Oncologist who did my bone marrow biopsy said they have been using Rituximab for many patients with diseases other than Anti-MAG with few side effects and great results. It is good to hear you have had a good experience with Rituximab and seems to have stopped progression and improved your condition a bit. But I suppose first we have to go through a 6 month IVIG regimen to “earn” the more expensive Rituximab. I have read that IVIG helps many forms of CIDP but for anti-MAG the benefits are not proven. Maybe it helps to stop progression? But common sense tells you that if 6 months of IVIG (which is not cheap either) won’t help anti-MAG folks, it would probably save money just to start with Rituximab which requires fewer infusions with much longer lasting benefits than IVIG (if IVIG even helps anti-MAG).

Thanks for your reply and talk to you again! One more thing, below is the email reply from Polyneuron about their potential anti-MAG drug treatment:

Dear Peter,

Many thanks for your interest in our research and our company. We are
small Swiss Biotech company. Our entire team is highly motivated and
works very hard on the development of PN-1007 as the first treatment for
anti-MAG neuropathy. Nonetheless, there are still many hurdles to
overcome but we are currently on very good track.

We are planning the First-in-Patient Study (Phase I) in Europe in 2019,
but we have planed the phase II in Europe and the US. In California we
currently establishing the contact with a renowned neurologist and a
clinical center, respectively. We are glad to update you with the
progress of the development but it is still a long way towards the
clinical trial. For any further information or updates, feel free to
contact me.

Kind regards,
Pascal Hänggi, PhD