According to a press release from the Israeli company BioLineRx, their novel polymer for treating Celiac Disease has been confirmed as a Class IIb medical device in the European Union (EU).  According to the company, the polymer, called BL-7010, is “a novel, non-absorbable, orally available co-polymer intended for the treatment of celiac disease. It has a high affinity for gliadins, the immunogenic proteins present in gluten that cause celiac disease. By sequestering gliadins, BL-7010 effectively masks them from enzymatic degradation and prevents the formation of immunogenic peptides that trigger the immune system. This significantly reduces the immune response triggered by gluten.”  The company is also investigating use of the polymer as a food supplement to target patients with non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

According to BioLineRx, the celiac co-polymer BL-7010, was invented by Prof. Jean-Christophe Leroux from the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and is being developed by BioLineRx under a worldwide exclusive license agreement with Univalor.

According to their website, BioLineRx is a “clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to identifying, in-licensing and developing promising therapeutic candidates. The Company in-licenses novel compounds primarily from academic institutions and biotech companies based in Israel, develops them through pre-clinical and/or clinical stages, and then partners with pharmaceutical companies for advanced clinical development and/or commercialization.”