IL-17A binding molecules and medical uses thereof

1. A polypeptide that inhibits the activity of glycosylated IL-17A comprising:

(a) a peptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of

(SEQ ID NO: 1)

GVTLFVALYDY(X 1 )(X 2 )(X 3 )(X 4 )(X 5 )(X 6 )DLSFHKGEKFQIL

STHEYE DWWEARSLTTGETGYIPSNYVAPVDSIQ,

wherein amino acid positions (X 1 ) to (X 6 ) may be any amino acid sequence; or

(b) a peptide that is at least 85% identical to the peptide of the amino acid sequence of (a),

wherein the identity determination excludes amino acid positions (X 1 ) to (X 6 ) and provided that the amino acid sequence STHEYE (SEQ ID NO: 2) in amino acid positions 31 to 36 of SEQ ID NO: 1 is conserved.

2. The polypeptide of claim 1 , wherein

(X 1 ) is A, K, S, D or E;

(X 2 ) is N, Q, A, K, S or R;

(X 3 ) is H, K, R, L or V;

(X 4 ) is G or S;

(X 5 ) is H, Q, A, W, V or N; and

(X 6 ) is R, L or S.

3. The polypeptide of claim 1 , wherein the polypeptide comprises a peptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of any one of SEQ ID NOs 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.

4. A fusion construct comprising a polypeptide of claim 1 fused to a further compound.

5. The fusion construct of claim 4 , wherein the further compound is a pharmaceutically active compound, a prodrug, a pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier, a diagnostically active compound, a cell penetrating enhancer, a compound modulating serum half-life, or a combination thereof.

6. The fusion construct of claim 4 , wherein the further compound is

(a) a fluorescent dye,

(b) a photosentisizer,

(c) a radionuclide,

(d) a contrast agent for medical imaging,

(e) a cytokine,

(f) a toxic compound,

(g) a chemokine,

(h) a pro-coagulant factor,

(i) an enzyme for pro-drug activation,

(k) an albumin binder,

(l) an albumin,

(m) an IgG binder, or

(n) polyethylene glycol.

7. The fusion construct of claim 4 , wherein the further compound is an antibody light chain, an antibody heavy chain, an F c domain of an antibody, an antibody, or a combination thereof.

8. The fusion construct of claim 7 , wherein the further compound is located at the N-terminus of the polypeptide.

9. The fusion construct of claim 7 , wherein the further compound comprises an antibody light chain comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 11.

10. A construct comprising at least one copy of a fusion construct of claim 9 and at least one copy of the antibody heavy chain of SEQ ID NO: 12.

11. The construct of claim 10 , wherein the construct comprises at least one copy of a fusion construct comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16 or 17 and at least one copy of the antibody heavy chain of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12.

12. A nucleic acid molecule encoding a polypeptide of claim 1 .

13. A method of treating an inflammatory disease comprising administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising a polypeptide of claim 1 , wherein the disease is psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, or autoimmune inflammatory bowel disease.

14. The fusion construct of claim 7 , wherein the further compound comprises an antibody that specifically binds to TNFα.

15. A construct comprising two copies of a fusion construct of claim 9 and two copies of the antibody heavy chain of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12.

16. The construct of claim 10 , wherein the construct comprises at least one copy of a fusion construct comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 and at least one copy of the antibody heavy chain comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12.

17. The construct of claim 11 , wherein the construct comprises two copies of a fusion construct comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16 and two copies of the antibody heavy chain comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12.

18. The construct of claim 16 , wherein the construct comprises two copies of a fusion construct comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 and two copies of the antibody heavy chain comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 12.