Consortium lead by Prophylix Pharma AS receives up to €6 M in EU-funding

09-05-2012: Prophylix Pharma AS announced that its project proposal for developing a new therapy to prevent Fetal/Neonatal Alloimmune Trombocytopenia (FNAIT) has been favorably evaluated by the EU Commission and will receive up to €6 million in funding under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-HEALTH). The project with the acronym PROFNAIT will be carried out by a consortium consisting of academic and commercial organizations from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

FNAIT is a rare but potentially very serious condition that occurs in about 1 out of 2,000 pregnancies. FNAIT is most commonly caused by incompatibility between mother and foetus for the Human Platelet Antigen 1a (HPA-1a). If a mother is negative for the HPA-1a antigen, she may develop antibodies against HPA-1a antigen from her foetus. Transferral of these antibodies to the foetus can destroy the foetus’ blood platelets and increase the risk of severe and potentially fatal bleeding. Currently no satisfactory preventive measures or treatment exist.

The new prophylactic therapy consists of a so-called hyperimmune - a specific IgG antibody fraction isolated from human plasma of rare donors who are carrying antibodies against the HPA-1a antigen. The objective of the PROFNAIT consortium is to secure sufficient plasma to manufacture the hyperimmune and to conduct clinical development of the product until registration. The plasma will be obtained from female donors that have given birth to a child suffering from FNAIT but also women who are known to be immunized against HPA-1a, for example from screening programmes, are potential donors.