- The Nature Reviews Drug Discovery article describes the current state of ALS drug development for both preclinical and clinical stages, as well as examples of translational science including for Aclipse’s M102 candidate.
- M102 is in preclinical development for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases.
- M102 development is financially supported by the United States Department of Defense, the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council, and Australia’s FightMND.
Radnor, PA, USA – January 2, 2023 – Aclipse Therapeutics, and its subsidiary Aclipse One, Inc (“Aclipse” or “the Company”), an innovative biopharmaceutical company developing life-changing treatments for patients with severe diseases, announced today that Nature Reviews Drug Discovery published on December 21, 2022 in Volume 22, Issue 12 a review article entitled Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: a neurodegenerative disorder poised for successful therapeutic translation with authors Richard J. Mead, Ning Shan, H. Joseph Reiser, Fiona Marshall, and Pamela J. Shaw. Authors from both the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) at the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom and Aclipse review the current state of ALS drug development and provide examples of translation for several drug candidates, including for Aclipse’s M102 candidate.
M102 is in late-stage IND-enabling studies for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig’s disease. M102 takes a dual mechanism approach with M102 activating both the Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2) and HSF1 (Heat shock factor 1) signaling pathways, which are understood to impact ALS pathophysiology. The Company is taking a targeted, precision approach to the development of M102 by identifying genetic markers of potential ALS drug responders. Industry data indicate that a precision medicine approach may increase the probability of clinical success by 2- to 3-fold.
Aclipse licensed M102 from SITraN and is developing M102 along with SITraN collaborators Professor Dame Pamela Shaw, Professor Laura Ferraiuolo, and Dr. Richard Mead. M102 development has been supported by research grants from the United States Department of Defense, the United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council, and Australia’s FightMND.
“The publication of this Nature Reviews Drug Discovery article is an important step in the collaboration between SITraN and Aclipse to develop M102 for use in ALS patients who are in urgent need of effective therapies. Based on preclinical results to date, M102 may be mechanistically superior to currently approved ALS drugs and may lead to significant slowing of disease progression in patients with ALS with potential impact in other neurodegenerative diseases such as Fredrich ataxia and Parkinson’s disease,”
stated Ning Shan, PhD., Chief Scientific Officer of Aclipse Therapeutics and co-author of the Nature Reviews Drug Discovery article.
About ALS/MND
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons (nerve cells) in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, people with ALS lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which often leads to total paralysis and death within two to five years of diagnosis. Based on population studies, as many as 25,000 Americans have ALS at any given time.
About Aclipse Therapeutics
Aclipse Therapeutics is an innovative biopharmaceutical company that develops novel and differentiated drugs to treat diseases with significant unmet medical needs. M102 is a dual Nrf2/HSF1 activator for the treatment of ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases. M102 uses a precision medicine approach to identify those ALS patients who are most likely to benefit from the drug. Aclipse has an experienced drug development team and a clinical advisory board of key opinion leaders in ALS. For more information about Aclipse Therapeutics, visit the website at https://www.aclipsetherapeutics.com or email info@aclipsetherapeutics.com.
Contact:
Raymond K. Houck
rhouck@aclipsetherapeutics.com
+1-412-606-7214