Pharmaceutical Company receives €2.5m Strategic Translation Award to Develop Experimental Drug Candidate for ALS

Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA a research and development company focused on Central Nervous System (CNS) and pain therapies, announces that together with its newly acquired subsidiary, Stockholm-based NeuroNova AB, it has received an award of up to €2.5m from the Wellcome Trust. The funding will support a phase I/II clinical trial for Newron’s experimental compound sNN0029 for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

One of the hallmarks of ALS is the death of motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. The pharmaceutical formulation of sNN0029 contains vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a naturally occurring molecule that has been proven to be an important survival factor for motor neurons.

In preclinical studies, sNN0029 has demonstrated the ability to modify disease progression and increase life-span in an ALS model. It has also been successfully tested in a three month phase I/II safety and tolerability study in ALS patients.

The Strategic Translation Award from the Wellcome Trust covers spending of up to €2.5m for a new phase I/II trial with 6 months of treatment, to evaluate safety and efficacy of higher doses of sNN0029 in patients with ALS. The trial is expected to start in 2013. In exchange for the funding, The Wellcome Trust will participate in future revenues originating from sNN0029. Further financial details were not disclosed.

Stefan Weber, Newron’s CEO, commented: “We are excited to have the support of the Wellcome Trust for the development of this highly innovative compound. ALS is a relentlessly progressive disease that leads to a fatal outcome for most patients within a few years of diagnosis and is an area of significant unmet medical need. Newron has a strategic focus on developing compounds for such rare or orphan indications in CNS and pain disorders.”