Per Perseus Proteomics Inc. announced that the Company has completed enrollment of 6 patients in PPMX-T003, an anti-transferrin receptor 1 (TfR1) antibody, Phase I clinical trial among PV patients. This trial primarily investigates the safety and pharmacokinetics in administering PPMX-T003 to patients suffering from PV, a disease that causes production of red blood cells (RBCs) at an abnormal level. The secondary purpose is to confirm the therapeutic effects.

The Company will administer PPMX-T004 to the newly enrolled patients and will finish the phase I clinical trial within the fiscal year 2023. There is no impact on the financial results forecast for the fiscal year 2023. About PPMX-T003: PPMX-T003 is an antibody targeting TfR1 that is related to iron intake into cells.

TfR1 is highly expressed in cells that require much more iron than usual cells. Erythroblasts, which are nucleated cells in bone marrow from which RBCs derive, are one of them. When PPMX-T003 binds to TfR1, it inhibits cell proliferation by inhibiting iron uptake into erythroblasts.

Therefore, it is expected to normalize the number of RBCs of PV patients, who have too many RBCs. TfR1 is also expressed in cancer cells that proliferate at a significant pace. PPMX-T003 similarly inhibits proliferation of cancer cells due to its function of inhibiting iron intake.

Also, investigator-led phase I/II clinical trial of PPMX-T003 among aggressive NK-call leukemia (ANKL) patients is underway.