BOSTON, April 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Praxis Precision Medicines, Inc. (NASDAQ: PRAX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company translating genetic insights into the development of therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders characterized by neuronal excitation-inhibition imbalance, today announced that data from its PRAX-944 essential tremor (ET) program will be presented at the upcoming 2022 American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting, which will take place in Seattle, Washington from April 2 – 7, 2022 and virtually from April 24 – 26, 2022. Abstracts can be accessed on the AAN meeting website.
“Essential tremor is the most common movement disorder, yet ET patients have limited treatment options that inadequately control tremor and do so with poor tolerability, leading to high discontinuation rates,” said Bernard Ravina, M.D., chief medical officer of Praxis. “We are focused on fundamentally changing the way that ET patients are treated by developing two novel and differentiated treatments with potential to have a positive impact on patients’ lives.”
Oral Presentation Details:
- Format: Oral Presentation
- Session Date/Time: April 6 at 5:06 p.m. PT
- Session Name: Movement Disorders: Dystonia and Tremor Disorders
- Program Number: S32.009
T-type calcium channels (TTCCs) play a critical role in regulating neuronal activity within the cerebello-thalamo-cortical (CTC) circuitry, which is responsible for coordinated movement, and when dysregulated, can generate tremor. In rats, PRAX-944 reduced sigma-power, a translational biomarker to measure drug effect on TTCCs, at concentrations that reduced tremor without locomotor side-effects. In healthy participants, comparable sigma-power reductions indicate that TTCC blockade was achieved at well-tolerated doses that may hold therapeutic promise for tremor reduction in patients with ET. These findings have recently been published in Movement Disorders DOI: 10.1002/mds.28969.
Virtual Presentation Details:
These presentations will be available April 24 – 25, 2022 during AAN’s Virtual Experience.
Findings from the ongoing PRAX-944-221 trial provide preliminary evidence that PRAX-944 can reduce tremor symptoms of ET at well-tolerated doses. Safety and tolerability of a range of doses in patients, as well as upper limb tremor and measures of activity of daily living were assessed.
Expanding on preliminary findings, the upcoming PRAX-944-222 dose-ranging trial (Essential1) will further examine the safety, tolerability and efficacy of PRAX-944 in adults with ET and will determine optimal doses and endpoints for evaluation in later studies.
The objective of this study was to collect information on the attributes of patients with ET, associated comorbidities, and treatments using a U.S. claims database. Medical and prescription claims for the period from 2015–2019 were studied, with findings highlighting the hidden impact of ET, in particular the significant number of patients not receiving treatment.
About PRAX-944
PRAX-944 is a novel selective T-type calcium channel blocker designed to block abnormal neuron burst firing in the CTC circuit correlated with tremor activity. PRAX-944 is currently in clinical development for the treatment of essential tremor, with planned studies to evaluate motor function in Parkinson’s disease patients. In clinical trials to date, treatment with PRAX-944 up to 120mg/day has been well tolerated and showed both a reduction in tremor amplitude and improvements in activities of daily living.
About Praxis
Praxis Precision Medicines is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company translating genetic insights into the development of therapies for CNS disorders characterized by neuronal excitation-inhibition imbalance. Praxis is applying insights from genetic epilepsies to both rare and more prevalent neurological and psychiatric disorders, using our understanding of shared biological targets and circuits in the brain. Praxis has established a broad portfolio with multiple programs, including product candidates across psychiatric disorders, movement disorders, epilepsy and other CNS indications, with three clinical-stage product candidates. For more information, please visit www.praxismedicines.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
