Swedish pharmaceutical company AlzeCure Pharma has secured a €2.5m ($2.62m) grant from the EU’s European Innovation Council (EIC) to support a Phase IIa trial of NeuroRestore ACD856 for Alzheimer’s disease.
ACD856 is expected to become the first drug in a new category of Alzheimer’s treatments known as positive allosteric modulators of Trk receptors (Trk-PAMs), which increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor signalling.
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The trial will explore higher doses of ACD856, building on the drug’s established safety profile and its potential to improve memory function and alter the course of Alzheimer’s disease.
Previous Phase I studies have demonstrated the drug’s safety, tolerability and ability to activate brain regions tied to cognition and depression.
AlzeCure Pharma chief scientific officer Johan Sandin said: ”We are delighted to have been awarded a €2.5m grant from the EIC for our innovative Alzheimer’s treatment.
“The support from the EIC Accelerator programme is a recognition of the project and will be crucial in advancing our clinical trials and bringing this much-needed Alzheimer’s treatment to patients.”
NeuroRestore ACD856 is a first-in-class drug candidate that has shown promising preclinical outcomes, enhancing nerve cell communication and cognitive abilities such as learning and memory.
It has also exhibited disease-modifying, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory effects.
AlzeCure Pharma CEO Martin Jönsson said: “The grant we received from the European Innovation Council is a strong validation of NeuroRestore ACD856, which has a unique pharmacological mechanism that enables multiple indications, both neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, but also, for example, depression.
“ACD856 has the potential to both improve learning and memory capacity, as well as being disease-modifying and improving brain health is unique and significant.”
Based in Huddinge, AlzeCure develops treatments for central nervous system diseases, with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and pain relief.
Its pipeline includes several drug candidates derived from the NeuroRestore, Painless and Alzstatin research platforms.
