Mediar partners with Ono Pharma on fibro-inflammatory discovery

Boston-based Mediar Therapeutics has entered a collaboration and option agreement with Japan-based Ono Pharmaceutical to develop antibody therapies for fibro-inflammatory diseases, while simultaneously disclosing that its lead anti-fibrotic program, MTX-474, has advanced into a Phase II trial in diffuse cutaneous systemic sclerosis (dcSSc) following completion of a Phase I healthy volunteer study.

Under the agreement, Ono will leverage Mediar's fibrosis-focused antibody discovery platform and myofibroblast biology expertise to generate new multimodal therapeutic programs. Ono receives an exclusive worldwide option to license and commercialize resulting programs, with an upfront payment to Mediar and R&D cost support; financial terms were not disclosed. The partnership combines Mediar's fibrosis biology platform with Ono's immunology and inflammation pipeline, giving Ono an exclusive worldwide option to license resulting antibody programs. Ono Venture Investment has held a position in Mediar since 2021. The collaboration is focused on discovery-stage work separate from Mediar's existing clinical pipeline.

The EncompaSSc trial (NCT07287670) is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase II study enrolling 85 participants with dcSSc. MTX-474 is a human IgG1 antibody designed to neutralize EphrinB2, a ligand whose signaling has been implicated in myofibroblast activation, cell migration, and tissue remodeling across skin, lung, and cardiac fibrosis. The press release notes that EphrinB2 expression is measurable in blood and correlates with disease severity, positioning it as both a therapeutic target and a potential pharmacodynamic biomarker. No efficacy or safety data from the Phase II have been disclosed; the trial is currently recruiting.

Mediar's broader fibrosis pipeline includes MTX-463, an anti-WISP1 antibody partnered with Eli Lilly in Phase II for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and MTX-439, an anti-SMOC2 antibody in Phase I for kidney fibrosis. Neither program has reported clinical data.

Unlike approved anti-fibrotic therapies such as nintedanib and pirfenidone, which slow disease progression, Mediar's pipeline targets upstream mediators of fibroblast activation. EphrinB2 has not previously been evaluated clinically as an anti-fibrotic target, making MTX-474 one of the first programs to test this biology in systemic sclerosis.

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