SAN DIEGO, Sept. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spinogenix, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel small molecule drugs for neurological conditions, today announced a second grant award by the National Institute of Health (NIH). The new $3 million grant titled “Development of a Novel, Regenerative Therapy to Reverse Synapse Loss in Alzheimer's Disease” will continue to support the development of SPG302, a patent-protected compound designed by Spinogenix to help restore the brain connections and functions lost in Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders.
Spinogenix recently initiated its first phase 1 human clinical studies for SPG302 in Australia and anticipates these results will further support its potential in treating Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
“We are extremely pleased to receive this phase two NIH grant award which will support our continuing work to advance SPG302 as a novel treatment for Alzheimer’s,” said Spinogenix Founder and Chief Executive Officer Stella Sarraf, PhD. “Our approach is unique for diseases of the central nervous system. SPG302 is an innovative treatment focused on regenerating synapses to reverse declines in cognitive and motor function, which is different than the many other therapeutics that are being developed for neurodegenerative conditions, which mostly aim to slow the degenerative process.”
SPG302 is a once-a-day tablet and differentiated significantly from recently approved antibody therapies that have shown modest effect in slowing Alzheimer’s disease. Spinogenix anticipates that this NIH grant support will accelerate its efforts to bring this novel treatment to patients and potentially slow and reverse the fundamental process of synaptic degeneration at work in Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s is a degenerative brain disease and the most common cause of dementia. According to The Alzheimer’s Association, more than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's and by 2050 this number is projected to rise to nearly 13 million. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer's or another dementia, killing more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.
Loss of synapses occurs very early in Alzheimer’s and is a major driver of progressive impairments in cognition and memory. Accordingly, aged people who retain high synaptic density have displayed better memory and cognition. Regenerating synapses has long been postulated as an essential approach to treating Alzheimer’s, but finding drugs capable of achieving this has been difficult. Spinogenix is advancing SPG302 as the first synaptic regenerative therapy in Alzheimer’s disease.
NIH previously awarded Spinogenix a phase one grant (number 1R43AG058278) for its research and development of this unique treatment for Alzheimer’s patients. The results of those grant-funded studies were published in 2021 in the journal Neurotherapeutics – “SPG302 reverses synaptic and cognitive deficits without altering amyloid or tau pathology in a transgenic model of Alzheimer’s disease” by Trujillo-Estrada et al (PMCID: PMC8804111).
For more information contact: info@spinogenix.com
About Spinogenix
Spinogenix was founded in 2016 with the mission to develop transformative therapeutics for diseases involving synaptic loss and dysfunction. Our drugs are designed to regenerate synapses to reverse declines in cognitive and motor function and fundamentally change treatment paradigms by restoring neuronal connections regardless of the underlying cause of synapse loss. Synapse loss is associated with a variety of neurological and psychiatric diseases, such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and depression. More information on Spinogenix can be found at www.spinogenix.com.
Disclosure
This project is supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number R44AG082648. The content is solely the responsibility of the Company and Principal Investigators and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
