New Drug for Those with Celiac Disease on the Horizon
We’ve all had those unfortunate, miserable occasions when cross-contamination occurs and you don’t know what’s worse: how you feel or the knowledge that it’s not going to be over very soon. Study results for a new drug presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) could put an end to all of that for those with celiac disease. According to Beyond Celiac, “Celiac disease patients who suffer symptoms and gut inflammation despite being on a gluten-free diet could get relief from both at the same time from a new drug being developed by Amgen.”
AMG 714, as principal investigator Markku Maki, M.D. explained, is designed to neutralize the molecule IL-15, which is considered to play a large role in celiac disease.
Maki is an expert on celiac disease and a professor at the University of Tampere in Finland. At DDW, Maki discussed the concern that “up to half of celiac disease patients on a gluten-free diet have intestinal damage or inflammation and a third have ongoing symptoms,” according to Beyond Celiac.
How AMG 714 works to help ease cross-contamination
The antibody that AMG 714 binds to, IL-15, is considered a key factor in the inflammation of the gut in those with celiac disease. Researchers were interested in the effect of AMG 714 on patients with celiac disease that have been exposed to gluten.
The study director, Francisco Leon, M.D. said: “Contamination, which can happen during food processing or packaging, during cooking and due to inadequate labeling, is known to occur very frequently, despite following a gluten-free diet.” The goal of the drug is not to allow celiac patients to consume gluten, but to “experience fewer gluten-triggered consequences.”
“AMG 714 is the first experimental medication which has shown a reduction in the effects of gluten on gut inflammation and symptoms simultaneously,” according to Leon.
Kristen Davis, senior manager of corporate communications said: “It’s important to not that this drug is being investigated for its potential to protect against modest contamination, not deliberately eating large amounts of gluten, like bread or pasta.”
AMG 714 did show positive results as a treatment for refractory celiac disease.
Other potential treatments on the horizon
Though Maki’s AMG 714 sparked the most intrigue at DDW, there are other potential treatments being reviewed. The various drugs being studied work in a variety of ways, some interrupt “the effect of gluten on the cells lining the intestine,” while others try to prevent or minimize the immune reaction those with celiac disease have from gluten. Each drug that’s being researched is designed for a different point in the process of someone with celiac disease being cross-contaminated or, as I like to call it, the glutening. Among the drugs being investigated are Larzotide Acetate, NexVax 2, and Latiglutenase.
This drug could be a game changer for those with celiac disease as the only current treatment available is maintaining a strict gluten-free diet. The release of this drug could put an end to celiac patients’ suffering from accidental cross-contamination, preventing them from having to miss out on so much. This could also help to minimize some of the anxiety those with celiac tend to experience over eating in new places.