The FDA has granted an orphan drug designation for biotherapeutics firm aTyr’s potential first-in-class immunomodulator efzofitimod in the treatment of systemic sclerosis, according to a company press release.
In their statement, aTyr said efzofitimod (ATYR1923) downregulates innate and adaptive immune responses in uncontrolled inflammatory disease states through selective modulation of neuropilin-2 (NRP2). The company added that it had established clinical proof-of-concept for efzofitimod in a phase 1b/2a study in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis, a form of interstitial lung disease