According to the Menlo Park, Calif-based biopharmaceutical company Coyote Pharmaceuticals, Inc, it will move forward with a “dual-track” clinical program for its lead compound, CNS-102, engineered to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). A recent news release reports that the first phase of the clinical program, targeting ALS, is slated to begin in 2013.

The compound, CNS-102 is an orally bioavailable small molecule inducer of heat shock protein gene expression, researchers explain. The researchers add that during pre-clinical animal models of neurodegenerative disease, the compound significantly improved animal behaviors and protected neurons from damage when compared to controls. 

Hiroaki Serizawa, PhD, Coyote Pharmaceuticals CEO and co-founder, designates the clinical programs for ALS and AD as a tremendous opportunity and considerable challenge given that the precise causes behind the diseases are not yet fully understood, “However, a growing body of research suggests that cellular networks vital to maintaining homeostasis may hold a key to managing, and perhaps reversing, the conditions. Our lead therapeutic candidate, CNS-102, is designed to increase the expression of natural heat shock proteins, which are capable of repairing the aggregated protein structures known to be key indicators of AD and ALS,” Serizawa says.

The release notes that the compound was also proven safe and well tolerated in preliminary studies. In the planned 2013 program, Coyote Pharmaceuticals reports that it will focus initially on ALS, using safety data from the previous studies in order to support an IND filling with the FDA. The company has also assembled a group of distinguished business and scientific advisors to support this “challenge.” 

Serizawa adds that he believes the company is, “on the cusp of advancing what we believe could be groundbreaking technology that eventually could be used to treat a host of orphan and neurodegenerative diseases. I greatly look forward to working with our expanded business and scientific teams to bring this vision to fruition.”

For more information, visit http://www.coyotepharma.com

Source: Coyote Pharmaceuticals