AlzeCure presents new positive data for the TrkA-NAM pain project against osteoarthritis
AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ) (FN STO: ALZCUR), a pharmaceutical company that develops candidate drugs for CNS diseases, focusing on Alzheimer's disease and pain, today announced that it has obtained new positive preclinical efficacy data supporting the continued development of the candidate drug ACD137 within the TrkA-NAM program.
The new in vivo data, obtained in a rat model of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, show significant pain relief in both movement-induced and evoked pain as well as a significant anti-inflammatory effect. The analgesic effect of ACD137 is in line with the effect of the anti-NGF antibody Tanezumab, which have in several clinical trials demonstrated significant and robust pain relief, showing that ACD137 can reach the same efficacy as Tanezumab at the investigated doses.
Repeated administration of ACD137 for 18 days was well tolerated and there were no clinical symptoms or histopathological findings of rapidly progressing OA (RPOA), a problematic side effect observed for anti-NGF antibodies, including Tanezumab, nor were any effects seen on neuronal ganglia.
ACD137 was also found to display a protective effect towards articular cartilage damage. Treatment with ACD137 resulted in significantly less chondral lesions and prevented deterioration of the articular cartilage as measured by the use of modified Mankin scores. ACD137 treatment also significantly improved a number of cartilage and knee joint structural parameters suggesting a protective effect on knee-joint function in a model of osteoarthritis.
ACD137 blocks NGF-mediated signaling via TrkA receptors, a biological mechanism with strong genetic, preclinical and clinical validation for its role in pain. The new preclinical data further strengthens previous positive analgesic results obtained with ACD137 in preclinical models of osteoarthritis, neuropathic pain and post-operative pain and further emphasizes its broad applicability in various severe pain states, including osteoarthritis.
"Our TrkA-NAM project aims to retain the potent analgesic effects of the NGF-antibodies, but avoid their side-effects, and our drug candidate, ACD137, is a very good example of the highly potent and selective substances that we have developed in the project. The new results show potent pain relief in a preclinically established model of osteoarthritis, and provides a clear validation of our research and development platform," said Pontus Forsell, Head of Discovery and Research at AlzeCure.
"Interest in TrkA-NAM has increased further after Asahi Kasei recently started its phase 2b study with AK-1830 against knee osteoarthritis, which validates AlzeCure's project, where we have developed molecules that are even more potent and selective than AK-1830," said Martin Jönsson, CEO of AlzeCure Pharma. “The combination of potent analgesic effects and anti-inflammatory action could provide significant pain relief for patients, and also opens up other possible indications”.
