NervGen Pharma (NGEN) is partnering with Dr. Ksenia Kastanenka to study the effects of NVG-291, in validated animal models of Alzheimer's disease.
"We are very happy to be collaborating with Massachusetts General Hospital and Dr. Kastanenka to study the mechanism of our technology in an Alzheimer's disease model," stated Dr. Daniel Mikol, NervGen's Chief Medical Officer.
"As the original and largest teaching hospital for Harvard University, and one of the largest funded research hospitals in the United States, MGH has a long history of supporting cutting edge research and innovation in medical research," added Dr. Mikol"
Dr. Kastanenka is an Assistant Investigator in Neurology at the Massachusetts General Research Institute, and an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School.
She is a proven research expert in the field of neurodegeneration with a special emphasis on Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Kastanenka's laboratory focuses on studying the disease progression and mechanisms of action of Alzheimer's therapeutics and uses leading-edge laboratory technologies, including in vivo animal models of disease, optogenetics, multiphoton microscopy, calcium imaging, and voltage-sensitive dye imaging.
"NervGen has a very promising approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease," stated Dr. Jeff Cummings, Director Emeritus of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health; Director of the Chamber-Grundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and member of NervGen's Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Advisory Board.
"There is an urgent need for new therapeutics to achieve meaningful cognitive stability and possibly even improvements in Alzheimer's patients. NervGen's drug candidate leverages a unique biology with multimodal effects relevant to the successful treatment of Alzheimer's disease," concluded Dr. Cummings.
"NervGen is committed to developing NVG-291 as a potential neurorestorative therapy for Alzheimer's disease patients, and we look forward to starting our Phase 1b clinical trial In Alzheimer's disease patients in 2022," stated Paul Brennan, NervGen's President & CEO.
NVG-291 modulates protein tyrosine phosphatase, the key receptor for chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans.
PTPσ and CSPGs have been shown to impede repair following injury to the nervous system, whether a result of trauma, such as in the case of spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury or disease-specific mechanisms, such as Alzheimer's disease or multiple sclerosis.
NVG-291 promotes neural repair mechanisms such as axonal regeneration; remyelination; plasticity; autophagy; and a non-inflammatory phenotype in microglia cells, the innate immune cells of the central nervous system.
A Phase 1 trial of NVG-291 in healthy subjects is ongoing and, upon completion of the multiple ascending dose portion of the trial, NervGen intends to initiate a Phase 1b trial in Alzheimer's disease patients.
Concurrently, NervGen also plans to initiate Phase 2 trials in spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis with each of these trials planned to start in 2022.
NervGen is restoring life's potential by creating innovative solutions for the treatment of nervous system injury due to trauma or disease as a result of underlying inflammation and/or neurodegeneration.
NervGen Pharma Corp. (NGEN) is up 1.06 per cent and is trading at C$1.91 at 10:26 am PT.