Pemphigus Vulgaris
Peptimmune is developing PI-0824 peptide immunotherapy for pemphigus vulgaris.
Incidence
- It is estimated that 30-50,000 people have pemphigus vulgaris worldwide with annual new cases diagnosed at a rate of 5 per one hundred thousand.
- It is known to affect people across racial and cultural lines, with certain groups of people (such as Eastern European Jews, people of Mediterranean, Northern Indian, and Persian descent) who have a higher incidence of the disease.
- Pemphigus vulgaris is associated with a mutation in MHC II HLA DRß1*0402 and is seen with more prevalence among Jewish people of Ashkenazi descent.
Symptoms
- Patients may present with painful ulcerations of the mouth that are commonly misdiagnosed as simple mouth sores that become widespread and may appear all over the body.
- The skin lesions are commonly misdiagnosed as an infectious disease - bacterial or fungal.
- The diagnosis of pemphigus vulgaris is eventually made by biopsy and immunofluorescence.
- If left untreated, the blisters can lead to devastating infections, discomfort, and ultimately death from sepsis.
- The course of the disease is almost always relentless and progressive.
Current treatment
- Current treatments include corticosteroid and chemotherapeutic immunosuppressive drugs.
- Results in serious and difficult-to-manage side effects that may lead to discontinuation of therapy.
- The most common cause of death is from complications of the treatment.
- There is no therapy specifically aimed at the treatment of pemphigus vulgaris.
For more information about pemphigus vulgaris, please visit www.pemphigus.org
