The role of CRTH2 in allergy

Increasing evidence of the past few years indicates that CRTH2 plays a central role in key aspects of allergic pathology including:

• Recruitment and activation of Th2 cells, eosinophils and other leukocyte populations to sites of allergic inflammation
• Prevention of apoptosis of Th2 cells thereby impeding the resolution of allergic inflammation
• Production of Th2 cytokines such as interleukin 4, interleukin 5 and interleukin 13 leading to downstream amplification of allergic disease
• Production of IgE
• Production of mucus
• Airway hyper-responsiveness

The role of CRTH2 in the allergic response has been reviewed by Pettipher and Hansel (2008).

Oxagen has clinically validated the role of CRTH2 antagonists in allergy demonstrating clinical proof of concept in a range of allergic conditions including asthma, allergic rhinitis and allergic conjunctivitis. The company published data from its Phase IIa asthma study of OC000459 in Barnes et al (2011).