Synosia Therapeutics Begins Phase I Trial Of A New Generation Treatment For Cognitive Impairment In Alzheimer's Disease And Schizophrenia

Main Category: Alzheimer's / Dementia
Also Included In: Schizophrenia;  Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Article Date: 15 May 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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Synosia Therapeutics announced today that it has started a Phase I clinical trial of SYN-120, its new generation 5-HT₆ antagonist under development for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. The study will assess the safety and tolerability of single ascending doses of SYN-120 in healthy volunteers.

Dr Ian Massey, Chief Executive Officer and President of Synosia Therapeutics said: "It's a tribute to our team to be launching this study within months of acquiring SYN-120 through our partnership with Roche. It demonstrates our ability to efficiently and rapidly initiate and conduct clinical trials and to shorten the product development cycle".

Alzheimer's is an incurable disease, predominantly occurring in the elderly. Driven by the ageing population, prevalence of the disease is expected to double by 2025. Industry analysts Lead Discovery state that revenues of approved Alzheimer's disease drugs across major markets (US, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) totalled over $3bn in 2006, with revenues expected to exceed $5bn by 2012.

Schizophrenia is a severe form of mental illness, affecting about 24 million people worldwide. Cognitive impairment has long been recognised as a core feature of schizophrenia. It is present in the majority of patients, independent of symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations, and a major cause of poor social and vocational outcome. There are currently no medications approved for the treatment of cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

About SYN-120

SYN-120, a potent and selective antagonist of the 5-HT6 receptor, was discovered by Roche and is now under development by Synosia for the treatment of cognitive impairment. Antagonism of 5-HT₆ receptors, which are expressed exclusively in regions of the brain associated with cognition, results in increased concentrations of acetylcholine and glutamate in these regions. Currently, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors are the mainstay for treatment of Alzheimer's. SYN-120 is anticipated to be more efficacious than the acetylcholinesterase inhibitors and also to be devoid of the side effects (e.g. nausea and vomiting) of this class that result from non-selective increases in acetylcholine in organs other than the brain. Preclinical studies in a variety of models have shown that 5-HT₆ antagonists have the potential to help reverse the cognitive losses brought about by Alzheimer's disease and to improve executive function in schizophrenics.

Source
Synosia