Aphios® Awarded Phase II SBIR Grant From National Institute
On Aging For Alzheimer's Disease Research
Woburn,
MA — January 24, 2012—
Aphios® Corporation has received a Phase II SBIR
grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) amounting
to $2.4 million over two years. The National Institute on
Aging (NIA), part of the NIH, awarded the grant to the Aphios
Corporation to develop an “Alzheimer’s Disease
Therapeutic.”
Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the third leading cause
of death in America and among the highest in the industrial
world. AD is a devastating age-related neurological disorder
that affects more than 4.5 million Americans and more than
10 million people worldwide. Experts estimate that 22 million
people around the world and more than 8 million Americans
will be afflicted with this disease by 2025.
“Aphios is developing APH-0703,
a potent protein kinase C (PKC) modulator that activates
the alpha-secretase pathway which can dramatically enhance
the generation of soluble amyloid precursor protein (sAPP),
diminishing plaques and cognitive deficits associated with
Alzheimer’s Disease,” explains Dr. Trevor P.
Castor, President and CEO, Aphios Corporation. “We
are developing novel formulations of APH-0703 based on Aphios’
proprietary hydrophobic-based formulation and patented SFS-PNS
polymer nanospheres technologies. After formulation selection,
Aphios will manufacture and characterize the API and final
drug product following cGMP guidelines, and conduct preclinical
studies in preparation of filing an IND with the FDA to
conduct human clinical trials.”
Aphios is collaborating with researchers at Louisiana State
University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA (LSUHSC)
which will conduct in vitro and in vivo
efficacy, toxicity and pharmacokinetic studies in triple
transgenic AD mice. According to Dr. J. Steven Alexander,
LSU’s Principal Investigator, APH-0703 is a highly
effective alpha-secretase modulator several orders of magnitude
more potent than typical modulators. “In dose and
time dependent studies APH-0703 showed a very high level
of effectiveness in alpha-secretase assays which appears
to reflect the powerful activation of PKC-delta and epsilon.
An even more impressive finding is that an oral formulation
of APH-0703 rapidly reversed cognitive deficits in animal
models of AD.” Dr. Alexander and study co-investigator
Dr. Lisa Schrott hope to identify the most effective, mechanism-based
cognitive enhancer formulations of APH-0703. Nanoencapsulated
APH-0703 shows even higher activity than the hydrophobic-based
APH-0703 formulation in cell assays, and is currently being
studied in animal models of AD.
LSUHSC is actively involved in several studies on neurovascular
degeneration including Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s
disease, as well as AD. LSUHSC campus family includes Schools
of Medicine, Allied Health Professions and Graduate Studies,
and three acute care hospitals. LSUHSC is home to the Feist-Weiller
Cancer Center and a Center of Excellence in Arthritis and
Rheumatology, an accredited Children’s Hospital, a
regional Burn Center and a Level One Trauma Center serving
communities across Northwest Louisiana, East Texas and Southwest
Arkansas.
Aphios® Corporation is a clinical stage biotechnology
company developing green, enabling technology platforms
for improved drug discovery and manufacturing, nanotechnology
drug delivery and pathogenic drug safety. Based on these
platforms, Aphios is developing enhanced therapeutic products
for health maintenance, disease prevention and the treatment
of certain cancers, infectious diseases and central nervous
system disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
The project described is supported by Grant Number R44AG034760
from the National Institute on Aging. The content is solely
the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily
represent the official views of the National Institute on
Aging or the National Institutes of Health.
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