If you’re looking for relief from your arthritic pain, camels and llamas don’t exactly spring to mind (and it would be slightly concerning if they did!) However, in a small trial, the llama immune system has proven itself to be a worthy opponent to arthritis pain, as antibodies similar to ones originally discovered in camels and llamas have helped to improve the wellbeing of moderate to severe arthritis sufferers.
From these camel and llama antibodies, researchers have developed an interleukin 6-receptor blocking drug, known as ALX-0061. This receptor otherwise amplifies inflammation, which affects your wellness by making your joints sore and swollen. However, blocking the receptor eases these symptoms. For the 6-month trial, 24 patients received one of three unchanging doses of ALX-0061, whilst another group received a placebo.
When measured using a standard DAS28 scale, which evaluates symptoms in 28 joints, the symptoms of 63% of the participants who had taken the drug had practically vanished. The current ‘gold standard’ rival treatment Actemra (tocilizumab) only produces a 30% remission rate, and though it also targets interleukin 6, the difference is that it is based on a normal-sized mammalian antibody.
For the eight patients who, once every four weeks, were given a dose of 3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, the remission rate rose to 75%. According to Josi Holz, the chief medical officer of Ablynx, in Ghent, Belgium, ‘These data suggest that out of every 10 patients, seven to eight could experience rapid, durable responses to their symptoms.’ Ed Moses, CEO of Ablynx, added that the fact the molecule is one-fifth the usual size could be the reason for its success: ‘It potentially gives far faster and deeper penetration of diseased joints.’
However, as the trial was not very large or carried out over a long period of time, other researchers warn against over-optimism. According to David Scott, chief medical adviser to the UK’s National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society, ‘If the results are repeated in randomised, controlled, double-blinded studies, then they would be very impressive.’ This is why Ablynx is now looking for a partner to help finance a more decisive, larger trial of the ALX-0061 drug.
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