Alterity Therapeutics is focused on slowing progression of Parkinson’s disease and related disorders.
Approach of slowing progression considered “Holy Grail” in treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
Interim results of a Phase 2 study of lead drug ATH434 released in July were positive.
Read Official Article: ‘Holy Grail’ – Alterity Therapeutics aims to slow progression of Parkinson’s disease - Stockhead
Speaking to Stockhead from the US, Alterity Therapeutics (ASX:ATH) CEO David Stamler said its lead drug ATH434 targets the underlying pathology of the disease.
“If successful we would modify the course of the disease, which is really the Holy Grail of what people are looking for in the neurology area,” he said.
“It’s not to minimise the importance of symptomatic therapies but the approach we are taking is to try and slow down the disease course, which is very important.”
Stamler said many pharmaceutical companies working on neurodegenerative diseases are now focusing on targeting the pathology to slow progression and give sufferers the best chance of preserving function and living with a better quality of life.
“After Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder,” he noted.
“There is a class of less common diseases that are related to Parkinson’s disease and have the same motor deficits such as not moving well and slowly, shuffling along with arms not swinging normally.”
ATH’s target first indication for ATH434 is a Parkinson’s related disorder called Multiple System Atrophy (MSA).
“What it means is multiple regions of the brain have pathology which cause different symptoms in different parts of the body,” he said.
“Beyond the motor impairment you see in Parkinson’s disease you also have bowel and bladder problems, difficulty maintaining blood pressure, which can obviously have a tremendous impact on quality of life.
“Our therapy is really targeting the underlying neurodegeneration of all these different areas to preserve function.”
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