Alterity Therapeutics (ATHE) said a preclinical study showed that treatment with ATH434 was neuroprotective and improved motor function. Movement Disorders, the official journal of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society, has published results from a study demonstrating that ATH434 reduces a-synuclein related neurodegeneration in a widely accepted murine model of Multiple System Atrophy or MSA.
By targeting a-synuclein and excess brain iron in MSA, Alterity believes that ATH434 can treat the underlying cause of the devastating disease which has no approved therapy.
The company said it remains on track to initiate its phase 2 clinical trial of ATH434 in patients with MSA by the end of the calendar year.
The preclinical study showed that treatment with ATH434 was neuroprotective and improved motor function, independently confirming and extending previous findings from another academic laboratory, both in the same MSA model as well as animal models of Parkinson's Disease.
In preserving neurons, ATH434 reduced both the aggregated form of a-synuclein and the so-called toxic oligomeric form, which is thought to underlie the spreading of disease to other neurons.
At the same time, ATH434 significantly reduced brain iron in areas of pathology, consistent with its mechanism of action.
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