AlzeCure Publishes New Disease Modifying Data with NeuroRestore ACD856 Against Alzheimer’s and Cognitive Disorders
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / July 11, 2023 / AlzeCure Pharma (STO:ALZCUR)(FRA:AC6) AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ) (FN STO:ALZCUR), a pharmaceutical company that develops a broad portfolio of small molecule candidate drugs for diseases affecting the central nervous system, with projects in both Alzheimer’s disease and pain, today announced that a new scientific article has been published on NeuroRestore ACD856 and preclinical results supporting its disease-modifying effect.
The article, titled “Neuroprotective and disease modifying effects of the triazinetrione ACD856, a positive allosteric modulator of Trk-receptors for the treatment of cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease”, is published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and is written by Pontus Forsell, Head of Research and Discovery. Co-authors are Cristina Parrado-Fernandez, Sanja Juric, Maria Backlund, Märta Dahlström, Nather Madjid, Veronica Lidell, Azita Rasti, Johan Sandin and Gunnar Nordvall.
The article focuses on the characterization of ACD856, the leading clinical drug candidate in the NeuroRestore platform which, being a Trk-PAM, increases BDNF and NGF signaling. ACD856 was tested in various preclinical models to investigate its potential disease-modifying effects. The results show that ACD856 has positive effects on neurite outgrowth, has protective effects against amyloid-beta induced nerve damage and has positive effects on the synapses – the contact surfaces between nerve cells where the exchange of information takes place.
“The data presented in the article add a substantial amount of information to our growing body of evidence strongly indicating that ACD856 could both have disease modifying and symptomatic effects in Alzheimer’s disease. We are encouraged by the compelling multimodal results with ACD856 demonstrating significant protection against amyloid-beta induced neurotoxicity, enhanced neurite outgrowth and increased levels of BDNF, both in vitro and in vivo in aged animals. Apart from being a stand-alone treatment, the recent findings also enhance the possibilities for ACD856 as a future combination treatment with anti-amyloid antibodies, such as Leqembi (lecanemab),” said Pontus Forsell, Head of Research and Discovery at AlzeCure Pharma.
“There is major international scientific interest in new therapeutic mechanisms in Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. Neurotrophins are a very interesting area with potential for multiple indications, not only Alzheimer’s. Depression and Parkinson’s are also diseases where this mechanism has scientific support,” said Martin Jönsson, CEO of AlzeCure Pharma AB. “These new results with ACD856 significantly strengthen the commercial potential of the project, which we now prepare for phase II studies.”
The article is available via the following link:
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/13/11159
For more information, please contact
Martin Jönsson, CEO
Tel: +46 707 86 94 43
martin.jonsson@alzecurepharma.com
About AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ)
AlzeCure® is a Swedish pharmaceutical company that develops new innovative drug therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions that affect the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer’s disease and pain – indications for which currently available treatment is very limited. The company is listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and is developing several parallel drug candidates based on three research platforms: NeuroRestore®, Alzstatin® and Painless.
NeuroRestore consists of two symptomatic drug candidates where the unique mechanism of action allows for multiple indications, including Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cognitive disorders associated with traumatic brain injury, sleep apnea and Parkinson’s disease. The Alzstatin platform focuses on developing disease-modifying and preventive drug candidates for early treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and comprises two drug candidates. Painless is the company’s research platform in the field of pain and contains two projects: ACD440, which is a drug candidate in the clinical development phase for the treatment of neuropathic pain, and TrkA-NAM, which targets severe pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis. AlzeCure aims to pursue its own projects through preclinical research and development through an early clinical phase, and is continually working on business development to find suitable outlicensing solutions with other pharmaceutical companies.
FNCA Sweden AB, +46(0)8 528 00 399 info@fnca.se, is the company’s Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit www.alzecurepharma.se.
About NeuroRestore
NeuroRestore is a platform of symptom-relieving drug candidates for disease states in which cognitive ability is impaired, e.g. Alzheimer’s Disease, sleep apnea, traumatic brain injury and Parkinson’s disease. NeuroRestore stimulates several important signaling pathways in the brain, which among other things leads to improved cognition. Preclinical studies with NeuroRestore have shown that AlzeCure’s drug candidates enhance communication between the nerve cells and improve cognitive ability. The NeuroRestore substances are so called Trk-PAMs which stimulate specific signaling pathways in the central nervous system known as neurotrophins, the most well-known being NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) and BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor). The levels of NGF and BDNF are disturbed in several disease states and the signaling is reduced. The impaired function impairs communication between the synapses, i.e. the contact surfaces of the nerve endings, as well as reducing the possibility of survival for the nerve cells, which gives rise to the cognitive impairments. Neurotrophins play a crucial role for the function of nerve cells, and a disturbed function of BDNF has a strong genetic link to impaired cognitive ability in several different diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury and sleep disorders. There is also a link between BDNF signaling and depression, something that has been further strengthened in recent years. In addition to cognitive-enhancing effects, new preclinical data also show that NeuroRestore substances have a positive effect on mitochondrial function and cell survival, which could indicate potential disease-modifying effects. The leading drug candidate in the platform, ACD856, has recently completed clinical phase I studies and demonstrated positive effects there that support continued development of the program.
About Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting approximately 45 million people worldwide. Alzheimer’s disease is a lethal disorder that also has a large impact on both relatives and the society. Today, preventive and disease modifying treatments are missing. The main risk factors to develop Alzheimer’s are age and genetic causes. Even though the disease can start as early as between 40 and 65 years of age, it is most common after 65 years. Significant investments in Alzheimer research are being made because of the significant unmet medical need and the large cost of this disease for healthcare and society. The total global costs for dementia related diseases is estimated to about 1,000 billion USD globally in 2018. Given the lack of both effective symptomatic treatments and disease modifying treatments, the need for new effective therapies is acute. The few approved drugs on the market today have only a limited symptomatic effect and can produce dose limiting side effects. A disease modifying treatment for Alzheimer’s disease is estimated to reach more than $15 billion in annual sales. In Sweden, approximately 100,000 people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease with a healthcare cost of about SEK 63 billion yearly, which is more than for cancer and cardiovascular diseases combined.
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