IL-1α/IL-1β (dual)

Class

Dual IL-1 inhibitor (DVD-Ig)

IL-1α and IL-1β are two related but distinct cytokines that both activate the same cell-surface receptor, IL-1 receptor type 1, to trigger inflammatory signaling. Despite sharing a receptor, they arise differently: IL-1α is often already present inside or on the surface of cells and is released when tissue is damaged, acting as an early alarm signal, while IL-1β is produced as an inactive precursor that must be cleaved by an intracellular enzyme complex before it becomes active and is secreted. Because either cytokine alone can sustain inflammatory signaling, blocking only one may leave the other free to drive ongoing tissue damage. A dual inhibitor is designed to neutralize both simultaneously, using an antibody engineering format that fuses two separate antigen-binding regions into a single molecule so that one agent can capture both cytokines. This mechanism is relevant across autoinflammatory and inflammatory joint and skin conditions where interleukin-1 signaling contributes to pain, swelling, and tissue destruction, including diseases where the balance between IL-1α and IL-1β differs from patient to patient. The broader rationale for dual blockade is to reduce the chance that inflammation persists through the untargeted isoform when only one is inhibited.