The company aims to bring the treatment to an underserved population.

Scinai Immunotherapeutics Ltd. announced a successful preclinical trial result for its anti-IL-17 VHH antibody (NanoAb) as a local treatment for moderate plaque psoriasis. 

The study, designed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of NanoAbs, used proprietary induced human skin models exhibiting plaque psoriasis symptoms to enable ex–vivo examination of the therapeutic effects of drugs targeting underlying mechanisms in the pathogenesis of plaque psoriasis, particularly the IL-17 family of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The study groups included intradermal injections in two dosage schedules of NanoAbs, which were compared to Cosentyx®, Betamethasone, an unrelated VHH NanoAb, and an untreated control. Cytokine levels secreted by the skin tissues were measured, including IL-17 family cytokines. Skin structure, integrity, and viability were assessed by a histological analysis.

The results of the cytokine release analysis showed significantly reduced IL-17 release (p<0.001) compared to the untreated control, and similar to the effects of Betamethasone and Cosentyx. Histopathology results further supported improved skin structure following a single dose, which appeared more efficient than Betamethasone in reducing inflammation-induced skin and at least as efficient as Cosentyx. These results confirmed previously reported results showing downregulated key molecular markers overexpressed in plaque psoriasis in a 3D scaffold of skin cells, a model mimicking a skin tissue.

"To date, most of the innovation related to treatment of autoimmune diseases focused on drugs aimed at the more severe cases of these diseases, leaving milder cases with generic topical drugs and phototherapy treatments," said Dr. Tamar Ben-Yedida, chief scientist at Scinai, in a press release. The mild psoriatic patients account for more than 50% of the plaque psoriatic patients and while undertreated they are prone to disease deterioration and worsening of symptoms, mainly painful skin lesions. Scinai's vision is to become the 'Botox-like solution', providing a highly efficacious, specific, and safe biologic for local treatment of plaque psoriasis lesions."

Scinai will next conduct an in-vivo proof of concept animal study in early 2024 complemented by a pre-clinical toxicology study before commencing a first-in-human clinical trial in late 2024.