Electra Therapeutics Announces Initiation of a Phase 1 Trial of ELA822, a Novel SIRPγ-Specific Antibody Designed to Treat T Cell-Mediated Immune and Inflammatory Diseases
Second clinical-stage asset generated from the company’s proprietary library of SIRP-targeted antibodies
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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Electra Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on pioneering a new class of precision medicines for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases and cancer, today announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of ELA822, a novel SIRPγ-specific monoclonal antibody, in healthy volunteers.
Signal regulatory proteins (SIRP) are a family of cell surface receptors whose expression is restricted to specific immune cell populations and increases upon activation, enabling selective depletion of disease-driving cells while preserving normal immune function. ELA822 is a fully human IgG1κ monoclonal antibody designed to selectively bind SIRPγ, with no binding to SIRPα or SIRPβ1. SIRPγ is expressed predominantly on T cells, and by engaging cells expressing high levels of SIRPγ, ELA822 is designed to deplete activated, pathogenic T cells while sparing naïve and regulatory T cells.
“We have built significant expertise at Electra in the biology of SIRP protein expression across activated immune cell populations and applying that biology to precision immune cell depletion,” said Graham Parry, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Electra Therapeutics. “Selective targeting of individual SIRP members has historically been challenging, and because SIRPγ is expressed only in primates, preclinical characterization of SIRPγ-targeted therapies has been limited. Our discovery platform has produced antibodies with well-defined and differentiated binding characteristics, ranging from pan-SIRP engagement, as with our lead clinical candidate, ipsoprubart, to highly specific SIRPγ targeting, as with ELA822. We have also built humanized model systems to evaluate SIRPγ engagement. In those, ELA822 demonstrated selective depletion of activated T cells in vitro and activity in humanized mouse models of T cell-driven diseases in vivo.”
In nonclinical models of giant cell arteritis and graft-versus-host disease, ELA822 reduced activated T cell infiltration and inflammatory cytokine expression and was associated with improvements in measures of disease activity and survival. ELA822 was also well-tolerated in non-human primate studies. Based on the preclinical data, Electra has advanced ELA822 into clinical development. The Phase 1 trial is a randomized, placebo-controlled, single-ascending-dose study evaluating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of ELA822 in healthy volunteers.
“ELA822 is the second development candidate from our proprietary library of SIRP-targeted antibodies to advance into the clinic, extending our precision immune cell depletion approach to address unmet needs in chronic immune and inflammatory diseases,” said Kim-Hien Dao, D.O., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer of Electra Therapeutics. “Many approaches to T cell-driven diseases broadly suppress or deplete immune cells, which can limit their use in chronic settings. By selectively targeting SIRPγ to deplete activated pathogenic T cells, we believe ELA822 may be well suited for a broad range of chronic T cell-mediated diseases where durable efficacy and long-term tolerability are important therapeutic objectives.”
About Electra Therapeutics
Electra Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on pioneering a new class of precision medicines for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases and cancer. The company’s novel approach targets signal regulatory proteins (SIRP), a family of cell surface receptors whose expression is restricted to specific immune cell populations and increases upon activation, to enable selective depletion of disease-driving cells while preserving normal immune function. The company’s lead product candidate, ipsoprubart (ELA026), is a novel pan-SIRP monoclonal antibody currently in a global registrational program for secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH), a severe hyperinflammatory syndrome for which there are no broadly approved therapies and survival has remained consistently poor over the past two decades. Ipsoprubart is also being evaluated in a clinical trial for T cell and natural killer cell malignancies. ELA822, the company’s second clinical-stage product candidate, is a novel SIRPγ-specific antibody being developed for a broad range of chronic T cell-mediated immune and inflammatory diseases. For more information, please visit electra-therapeutics.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Investor Contact:
Monique Allaire, THRUST
monique@thrustsc.com
Media Contact:
Sarah Sutton, THRUST
sarah@thrustsc.com
