Looking Ahead: Previewing IgAN at ASN Kidney Week 2024, with Jonathan Barratt, PhD

After decades of being constrained to a strategy of RAS inhibition and watchful waiting, nephrologists find themselves at the beginning of a renaissance period for management of IgA nephropathy.

A disease state without any approved therapies leading into 2021, the field now lays claim to 2 fully approved therapies in budesonide (Tarpeyo) and sparsentan (Filspari), with other agents showing promise in the pipeline, including iptacopan, which received accelerated approval for IgA nephropathy from the FDA in August 2024.

Further evidence of the explosion of therapeutic advancement within the field and more specifically IgA nephropathy can be found within the program of the American Society of Nephrology’s Kidney Week 2024 program. Among the leading subject matter experts scheduled to present data related to IgA nephropathy is Jonathan Barratt, PhD, the Mayer Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Leicester. At the meeting, Barratt is listed as the lead author on abstracts related to more than half a dozen different agents in clinical trials for the treatment of IgA nephropathy, including a pair of late-breakers on data related to atacicept and felzartamab.

“Clearly, I spend my life looking at IgA nephropathy, the clinical trials, and reviewing the data, but sometimes you need to take a step back and see what your colleagues think of the data,” Barratt remarked, in an interview with HCPLive. “Are they as convinced as we are or I am? What questions do they have that remain unanswered and how do they think these new drugs are going to fit into the clinical treatment paradigm? Because I have a very clear view myself, but it'll be interesting.”

Below, we’ve compiled a list of late-breaking data and high-impact trials related to IgA nephropathy from Kidney Week 2024:

• TH-PO1205 - Phase II Results of an Investigational RNA Therapeutic to Complement Factor B, IONIS-FB-LRx, for Treatment of IgA Nephropathy
  Thursday, October 24, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM PT in Exhibit Hall
  Presented by Richard Lafayette, MD
  
• SA-OR101 - Felzartamab for IgA Nephropathy: Final Results of the IGNAZ Study
  Saturday, October 26, 5:10 PM PT in Room 6C
  Presented by Jonathan Barratt, PhD
  
• SA-OR102 Long-Term Results from the ORIGIN Phase 2b Study of Atacicept for the Treatment of IgA Nephropathy (IgAN)
  Saturday, October 26, 5:20 PM PT in Room 6C
  Presented by Jonathan Barratt, PhD
  
• SA-OR103 - SC0062, a New Selective Endothelin Receptor Type A Antagonist in IgA Nephropathy
  Saturday, October 26, 5:30 PM PT in Room 6C
  Presented by Hiddo Heerspink, PhD, PharmD

Check out our video preview with Barratt for more perspective on the evolving landscape of therapeutics for IgA nephropathy:

Relevant disclosures of interest for Barratt included Argenx, Calliditas Therapeutics, Chinook Therapeutics, Galapagos NV, GSK, Novartis, and Travere Therapeutics.

References:

1. Brooks, A. FDA Awards Full Approval to Budesonide (Tarpeyo) in Treatment of IgA Nephropathy. HCPLive. December 20, 2023. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.hcplive.com/view/fda-awards-full-approval-to-budesonide-tarpeyo-in-treatment-of-iga-nephropathy
2. Brooks, A. FDA Approves Travere Therapeutics’ Sparsentan for Proteinuria Reduction in Adult Primary IgAN. HCPLive. September 5, 2024. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.hcplive.com/view/fda-approves-travere-therapuetics-sparsentan-for-proteinuria-reduction-in-adult-primary-igan
3. Campbell, P. Iptacopan Receives Accelerated Approval for Reducing Proteinuria in IgA Nephropathy. HCPLive. August 7, 2024. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www.hcplive.com/view/iptacopan-receives-accelerated-approval-for-reducing-proteinuria-in-iga-nephropathy