We strive to improve the quality of life of transplant recipients
Very common
human pathogen
60% of all humans
have a life-long persistent CMV infection
DNA virus
of the herpesvirus
family
Immunosuppression
leads to virus reactivation from latency
What is CMV
Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a β-herpesvirus. Like all herpesvirus, CMV establishes life-long, latent infection and there is currently no cure for CMV. Throughout life, CMV can repeatably re-activate from latency and cause an active lytic infection. Normally, a healthy person’s immune system keeps the virus from causing illness and most people will never know they have CMV. If the immune system is weakened or suppressed, as is the case in connection with solid organ, stem cell or bone marrow transplantation, CMV is a major cause for concern and can be fatal if not controlled.
CMV reactivation from latency is a major health risk in transplant recipients due to the need for concomitant immunosuppressive therapy.
60%
of all humans have a life-long persistent CMV infection
The transplantation market
Around 100,000 solid organ and stem cell transplants are performed annually, and the number is growing by 3-5 % annually.
The number of organ transplants is growing. But waiting lists are growing faster, stressing the importance of making every transplant count
Current standard of care is insufficient
Inadequate efficacy
~30% of transplant patients develop clinically significant CMV infection
No curative potential
No activity against latent virus, therefore continued risk of reactivation and disease
Long treatment periods
Dosing for a period of 100-200 days, leading to suboptimal patient compliance
Resistance development
Long treatments without curative potential drives resistance development
Cytomegalovirus can be devastating for transplant recipients
Organ rejection
and GVHD
CMV infection significantly increases the risk of organ rejection and graft-vs-host-disease (GVHD) in transplant patients
Increased
mortality
CMV viremia is associated with a three-fold increased risk of death amongst kidney transplant recipients
Increased readmission rates
CMV infection increases readmission rates and costs of transplantation by 50%
100,000 at risk transplant patients require CMV therapy every year. High-risk patients are CMV- negative recipients of solid organs from CMV-positive individuals (D+/R- profile) and CMV-positive recipients of stem cell transplants (R+) irrespective of the status of the donor.