Aln-TMP: A Subcutaneously Administered RNAi Therapeutic Targeting Tmprss6 For The Treatment Of β-Thalassemia

The b-Thalassemias are a group of hereditary blood disorders resulting from insufficient beta globin production, ultimately giving rise to the signature clinical sequelae associated with β-Thalassemia which includes anemia, ineffective erythropoiesis, and secondary iron overload. Previously, we demonstrated that intravenous administration of an siRNA targeting hepatic Tmprss6 expression significantly ameliorated the disease phenotype in the Hbb^th3/+ mouse model of Thalassemia Intermedia (Blood. 2013; 14;121(7):1200-8). The Tmprss6 gene encodes for the protein Matriptase-2 which negatively regulates Hepcidin gene expression by cleaving the Hepcidin regulatory protein Hemojuvelin; RNAi-mediated suppression of Tmprss6 removes this negative regulator, ultimately leading to an increase in Hepcidin expression. Increased Hepcidin expression leads to a significant decrease in serum iron concentration and Transferrin Saturation (TfSat), which in the β-Thalassemia disease setting, corrects ineffective erythropoiesis, ameliorates anemia, and mitigates secondary iron overload. The role of Tmprss6 in iron metabolism has been extensively characterized in animal and human studies and, together with the observation in the Hbb^th3/+ mouse, represents an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of β-Thalassemia.

To this end, we developed ALN-TMP, a subcutaneous RNAi therapeutic targeting hepatic Tmprss6 for the treatment of β-Thalassemia. ALN-TMP employs the GalNAc conjugate siRNA delivery platform that safely and effectively delivers siRNA to the liver for hepatic gene silencing. Preclinical animal data demonstrate ALN-TMP exhibits robust and durable dose-dependent gene suppression as single dose administration of ALN-TMP leads to > 80% Tmprss6 gene suppression for up to 3 weeks post-dose. This leads to concomitant increases in Hepcidin gene expression (>2x baseline levels) and subsequent decreases in total serum iron and TfSat (>50% decrease from baseline). The degree to which ALN-TMP modulates Hepcidin and serum iron mobilization is nearly identical to that observed in the previous Hbb^th3/+ mouse studies and suggests ALN-TMP is a potent RNAi therapeutic with the potential of producing disease modifying effects in β-Thalassemia.