Firm claims small molecule drug impacts on tau protein fibrils and amyloid plaque formation.
Tasly Pharmaceutical negotiated Chinese rights to ProteoTech’s Phase I-stage small molecule Alzheimer disease candidate, Exebryl-1®. The two firms will work together to progress the drug through clinical development and regulatory approval in the U.S. and China. ProteoTech will receive an up-front fee, together with development costs and research funding. Tasly will have rights to Exebryl-1 for the Chinese market, with ProteoTech retaining rights for the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Exebryl-1 is a small molecule compound that ProteoTech claims has been show to prevent the formation and accumulation of the soluble and insoluble forms of beta-amyloid protein and the amyloid plaques characteristic of Alzheimer disease. In addition, the firm states that initial studies suggest that Exebryl-1 may also inhibit and reduce tau protein from forming paired helical filaments and induce the removal of neurofibrillary tangles from the brain. The drug may therefore represent the first orally bioavailable small molecule drug that affects both amyloid plaque and neurofibrillary tangle accumulation, ProteoTech suggests.
The company’s pipeline includes a small peptide Alzheimer disease candidate, PeptiClere™, and late preclinical-stage candidates for the treatment of systemic amyloidosis and Parkinson disease. Development of the Parkinson disease candidate, Synuclere, has been partially funded by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research LEAPS (Linked Efforts to Accelerate Parkinson’s Solutions) award program.
