Ablynx takes Phase III hurdle in acquired TTP

In July, caplacizumab received FDA fast track status for treating thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (aTTP), an orphan blood disease affecting 7,500 US Americans per year. Now, Ablynx (Ghent) announced that the bivalent antibody, which targets the von Willebrand factor (vWF) in order to prevent formation of platelet micro-clots  that cause the severe thrombocytopenia, tissue ischemia and organ dysfunction in aTTP, met the primary and certain secondary endpoints in the pivotal Hercules Phase III study, which enroled 145 patients. Despite the current standard-of-care treatment consisting of PEX and immunosuppression, episodes of aTTP are still…