Oruka Therapeutics announces preclinical data for ORKA-002

Oruka Therapeutics (ORKA) announced new preclinical data on ORKA-002, a novel extended half-life monoclonal antibody targeting IL-17A/F, from its presentation at the 2025 American Academy of Dermatology, AAD, Annual Meeting. ORKA-002 has an NHP half-life of more than 30 days following subcutaneous and intravenous administration, over three times longer than bimekizumab. Projections of ORKA-002 pharmacokinetics in humans indicate that a human half-life of approximately 50 days could enable dosing once every four months, while a human half-life of approximately 75 days could enable twice-yearly dosing. ORKA-002 binds to a similar epitope with similar affinity to bimekizumab and shows equivalent potency across a variety of in vitro assays. ORKA-002 binds IL-17A and IL-17F with a comparable picomolar affinity as bimekizumab. Based on cryo-EM structural analysis, ORKA-002 binds to a nearly identical epitope to bimekizumab on both IL-17A and IL-17F. When assessed across multiple different assays in cell lines and primary cells, ORKA-002 also had comparable functional potency for IL-17A and IL-17F antagonism. These findings further derisk the development path for ORKA-002.