Aptinyx, a US-based biopharmaceutical company developing modulators of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor to treat neurologic disorders, has commenced dosing under a Phase 1, first-in-human study for NYX-2925, its lead therapeutic candidate.
The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study will see enrolment of approximately 70 healthy volunteers.
Under the first phase, the firm will analyse the safety and tolerability of NYX-2925 at multiple doses.
The study will comprise both single-dose and multiple-dose ascending cohorts, each with placebo controls.
The results will help guide dose selection for Phase 2 efficacy studies in particular neurologic indications.
Aptinyx president and CEO Norbert Riedel said: "Our team's extraordinary efforts have allowed us to initiate our first clinical study less than a year after spinning out our company and platform from Naurex.
"As we conduct this study, we will also finalise the selection of one or more specific indications for Phase II studies of NYX-2925.
"We have seen compelling evidence of efficacy for NYX-2925 in preclinical models of multiple neurologic conditions, and will move forward in the disease areas where we believe we can have the greatest potential therapeutic impact."
The firm's chemistry and discovery platform is yielding several additional small-molecule modulators of the NMDA receptor, currently in preclinical development.
The compounds are intended to boost synaptic plasticity, a clinically validated mechanism with therapeutic potential across several nervous system conditions.
