Press Release
reMYND and the US NINDS Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP) begin collaboration on epilepsy program
Leuven Belgium, 4 November 2021: reMYND NV, a clinical stage company developing innovative treatments for Alzheimer’s, diabetes, epilepsy and other diseases caused by cellular dysfunction, today announces the acceptance of ReS3-T, the Company’s lead epilepsy drug candidate, into the US NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP). The ReS3-T program is the result of a collaboration with KU Leuven’s Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3).
The ETSP since its inception has focused on the identification of promising new drug treatments for epilepsy and has made important contributions to the development of several FDA-approved drugs for epilepsy. The program offers screening of treatment compounds, with a focus on therapy-resistant epilepsies, disease prevention and modification and performs testing with high scientific rigor.
ReS3-T acts via a novel proprietary target, Pde6δ, to control neuronal activity and has shown strong evidence of efficacy in multiple pre-clinical models of epilepsy, including Dravet Syndrome. The newly identified neuroprotective compounds demonstrated strong activity in restraining neuronal hyperexcitability in epilepsy, which resulted in improved neuronal health and survival, including the ability to rescue cognition, confer neuroprotection and potentially slowing down epileptogenesis.
"Epilepsy continues to affect far too many people globally and, while thoroughly researched, treatments which address refractory epilepsies effectively are yet to be approved,” said Gerard Griffioen, Chief Scientific Officer of reMYND. “At reMYND, we have been researching neuronal hyper-excitability for over a decade and our data have shown strong promise to tackle the disease in a fundamentally different and safe manner.”
“While a number of anti-seizure drugs exist in the market, there remains a high unmet need for treatments for pharmaco-resistant epilepsies,” said Lode Debrabandere, Chief Business Officer of reMYND. “We are excited to collaborate with the NIH’s neurological division in developing effective and safe treatment options to potentially improve the quality of life of many patients living with epilepsy.”
Epilepsy affects approximately 50 million people worldwide. A third of the patients fail to respond to available medical treatments. Drug-resistant epilepsy is associated with significant morbidity, including decreased quality of life, increased injury and hospitalization rates, higher medical and psychiatric comorbidities, elevated death rates including sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and increased economic costs for society.
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About reMYND
reMYND is a clinical stage company developing novel treatments for Alzheimer’s, diabetes, epilepsy and other diseases caused by cellular dysfunction. It is backed by a proprietary drug discovery platform, which enables the identification of novel mechanisms-of-action, targets and first-in-class small molecules.
reMYND’s most advanced program is ReS19-T, an investigational compound for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, which entered the clinic in Q4 2020. In animal models it has shown to produce an acute response, restoring synaptic plasticity, a process central in the disease cascade leading to neuronal demise and build-up of plaques and tangles. The company is also developing a treatment for diabetes, ReS39. Animal models have demonstrated the compound’s efficacy to increase endogenous insulin production capacity with a sustained and durable effect on blood glucose levels and end-organ protection.
Other treatments for major health challenges are being explored using reMYND’s discovery platform, with a focus on mitochondrial dysfunction in central nervous system (CNS) disorders.
In addition, reMYND has a dedicated Contract Research Organization (CRO), which focuses on CNS disorders. The team helps clients to assess the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and efficacy of their experimental treatments in reMYND’s proprietary animal models. The CRO has a global client base, including the US, Europe and Japan.
reMYND was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from the University of Leuven, and has been substantially supported by grants from VLAIO/IWT (Flanders, Belgium). Find out more at https://www.remynd.com.
