CLARKSVILLE, MD--(Marketwired - Nov 19, 2013) - Neuronascent, Inc. (www.neuronascent.com) announced today that preclinical development of Neuronascent's (the "Company") innovative Alzheimer's disease (AD) candidate, NNI-362, will move forward with IND-enabling studies through the National Institute on Aging's (NIA's) toxicology testing contract.
The NIA is part of the U.S. Government's National Institutes of Health, and its toxicology contract is part of the Institute's AD translational research program. The goal of the program is to seed early drug discovery and preclinical drug development projects in academia and in the small business community and, in doing so, increase the number of drug candidates against a variety of therapeutic targets that can be clinically developed by industry or through clinical trial programs at the NIH.
"With NIA's support, Neuronascent's therapeutic candidate moves an important step toward clinical testing as the first neuron-replacement therapy for Alzheimer's disease, a chronic neurodegenerative disorder with no effective therapies. The great promise of our technology is the restoration of neurons and new neuron growth in individuals suffering from neurodegenerative diseases," said Judith Kelleher-Andersson, Ph.D., Neuronascent's Founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer. The Company will seek industry partners for the clinical testing of its therapeutic candidates.
About NNI-362
NNI-362 has been validated through oral administration in external, non-human studies that indicate a reversal of memory impairment in aged mice and the promotion of new neuron growth from the brain's own neuronal progenitors, similar to new neuron growth observed in young mice. NNI-362 also promoted contextual memory benefit in Down syndrome mice, correlating with an increase in the number of new neurons to levels observed in normal mice.
About Neuronascent
Neuronascent, Inc. is a pre-IND stage company with significant expertise in discovering novel small-molecule therapies aimed at promoting new neurons in the brain from the brains own neuronal progenitor cells. Neuronascent's pipeline contains therapeutic candidates that target Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Down syndrome and other neuropsychiatric disorders.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by words such as "would," "may," "will," "expects," and other terms with similar meaning. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and speak only as of the date of this release and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
Contact Information:
For more information contact:
Judith Kelleher-Andersson