Immune-Mediated Necrotizing Myopathy and Clinical Trials

An interesting and engaging discussion about the various forms of myositis with a focus on immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy )IMNM), and the phase 2 clinical trial of Zilucoplan by UCB/Ra Pharma with Dr. Andrew Mammen from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Andrew Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., joined NIAMS as Muscle Disease Unit Leader in the Laboratory of Muscle Stem Cells and Gene Regulation in 2014. He obtained his medical degree and Ph.D. in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins in 2000, where he subsequently completed his medicine internship, neurology residency, and neuromuscular fellowship. Prior to his appointment at NIH, he was Associate Professor of Neurology and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He co-founded the Johns Hopkins Myositis Center in 2007, where he continues to see myositis patients as an adjunct faculty member. Dr. Mammen and his colleagues at Hopkins discovered a novel form of autoimmune myopathy associated with statin use and autoantibodies recognizing HMG-CoA reductase, the pharmacologic target of statins. In addition to clinical studies involving myositis patients, his current laboratory research interests include defining pathogenic mechanisms in the various forms of autoimmune myopathy and understanding the role of myositis autoantigens in muscle regeneration.