Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Omeros Corporation said that it has discovered the proteins that activate the alternative pathway of the complement system as part of the company's mannan-binding lectin associated serine protease-2 (MASP-2) program.

The complement system, which plays a role in the inflammatory response, becomes activated as a result of tissue damage or microbial infection.

The discovery of the mechanism is expected to allow the development of new antibodies to treat disorders linked to the alternative pathway.

The University of Leicester Immunology professor and Omeros MASP-2 program collaborator Dr. Wilhelm Schwaeble said the discovery of the mechanism that directs alternative pathway activation has recharted the understanding of the complement system and answered one of the remaining questions about its role in the inflammatory response.

"This new paradigm could lead to improved therapies to treat complement-mediated disorders," Schwaeble added.

Omeros announced it has recently filed a series of patent applications that claim a broad intellectual property position related to this new discovery, potential therapeutics targeting this protein alone or in conjunction with MASP-2, and a host of inflammatory disease indications linked to the inhibition of this protein and/or MASP-2.

MASP-2 is a novel pro-inflammatory protein target involved in activation of the complement system, an important component of the immune system.