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
may lead to virus reactivation from latency and CMV disease
What is CMV
Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a β-herpesvirus. Like all herpesvirus, CMV establishes life-long, latent infection and there is currently no treatment that can eradicate 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 to 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
Despite prophylactic treatment, CMV reactivation is observed in approximately 30% of transplant recipients
No curative potential
No activity against latent virus, therefore continued risk of reactivation and disease
Long treatment periods
Current standard of care prophylactic drugs are dosed for a period of 100-200 days, leading to risk of suboptimal patient compliance
Resistance development
Long treatments without curative potential drives resistance development
Cytomegalovirus can be devastating for transplant patients
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 patients
Increased readmission rates
Active 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).