La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company today announced the discovery of a key molecular site targeted by antibodies that cause stroke and heart attack in patients with a major autoimmune blood clotting condition known as the Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS). LJP is using this information to construct and develop a new drug to treat this life-threatening condition.
An estimated 500,000 patients in the US and Europe with high levels of autoimmune antiphospholipid antibodies have a greatly increased risk of stroke, heart attack and other thrombotic conditions. In APS, these antibodies are widely believed to promote the formation of blood clots resulting in stroke, heart attack, deep vein thrombosis, recurrent fetal loss, and complications following cardiovascular surgery.
The disease can lead to severe clotting in patients who often lack typical risk factors such as smoking or hypertension. The presence of autoantibodies in APS has been shown to double the risk of the next event. These antibodies occur in approximately 10% of all stroke and heart attack patients and approximately 30% of all deep vein thrombosis and recurrent fetal loss patients.
Scientific data describing LJP discovery will be presented in an invited lecture entitled, "Future Prospects for Therapy of the Antiphospholipid Syndrome: by Matthew Linnik, Ph.D., Director of R & D, at the 8th International Symposium of Antiphospholipid Antibodies on October 9, 1998 in Sapporo, Japan.
Previous scientific literature has shown that these antibodies target a phospholipid-binding plasma protein known as beta 2-GP1. LJP scientists have identified and characterized the antibody-binding region of beta 2-GP1.
