STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN / ACCESSWIRE / October 12, 2023 / AlzeCure Pharma (STO:ALZCUR)(FRA:AC6) AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ) (FN STO:ALZCUR), a pharmaceutical company that develops a broad portfolio of drug candidates for diseases affecting the central nervous system, with projects in both Alzheimer's disease and pain, today announced that the company's presentation at the pain conference held by the Swedish Pain Society is now available in its entirety on the company's website. The presentation contains clinical data from the phase II study with the company's leading drug candidate in pain, ACD440, which is being developed for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain.
"The results showed that after a short treatment with a locally acting gel, ACD440 can significantly reduce temperature-induced pain in patients with peripheral neuropathic pain. The fact that we have now been able to demonstrate proof-of-mechanism also in patients strengthens the project and is a positive signal for the continued clinical development of ACD440," said Dr. Märta Segerdahl, project leader and CMO at AlzeCure.
The presentation, titled "Topical ACD440 Gel reduces pain induced by temperature-stimulation in patients with neuropathic pain with sensory hypersensitivity", was held by Dr. Segerdahl and contains results from the recent phase II clinical trial with ACD440. Other co-authors of the material are Magnus Halldin, Rolf Karlsten, Karin Ellström and Adriana Miclescu.
The Phase II study included fourteen patients, men and women aged 50-85 years with moderate to severe peripheral neuropathic pain. On average, the patients had had pain for 4.75 years. The results showed that after 7 days of treatment with ACD440, the temperature-triggered pain was reduced by about 50%, a significant and clinically relevant effect. No treatment-related side effects were reported, indicating that the product is safe and well tolerated by patients.
AlzeCure's drug candidate ACD440 is a TRPV1 antagonist for the local treatment of patients with peripheral neuropathic pain. The discovery of TRPV1 that underlies the project was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2021. There is thus a strong scientific basis for this biological mechanism, including its relationship to pain signaling. ACD440 completed a positive phase Ib study in 2021. It showed both very good tolerability and safety, but also a potent, long-lasting pain-relieving effect of the substance that is applied as a gel to the skin.
"The fact that we have now been able to demonstrate significant and clinically relevant effects with ACD440 in patients suffering from chronic pain in this phase II clinical study shows the substantial potential of this substance. Neuropathic pain is an area of huge medical need, where up to 80% of patients do not respond satisfactorily to their current treatments, so new therapies in the field are urgently needed, also to hopefully replace the opioids being used today " said Martin Jönsson, CEO of AlzeCure Pharma.
The poster is available on AlzeCure's website: https://www.alzecurepharma.se/en/presentations-and-interviews/
For more information, please contact
Martin Jönsson, CEO
Tel: +46 707 86 94 43
[email protected]
About AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ)
AlzeCure® is a Swedish pharmaceutical company that develops new innovative drug therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions that affect the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease and pain - indications for which currently available treatment is very limited. The company is listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and is developing several parallel drug candidates based on three research platforms: NeuroRestore®, Alzstatin® and Painless.
NeuroRestore consists of two symptomatic drug candidates where the unique mechanism of action allows for multiple indications, including Alzheimer's disease, as well as cognitive disorders associated with traumatic brain injury, sleep apnea and Parkinson's disease. The Alzstatin platform focuses on developing disease-modifying and preventive drug candidates for early treatment of Alzheimer's disease and comprises two drug candidates. Painless is the company's research platform in the field of pain and contains two projects: ACD440, which is a drug candidate in the clinical development phase for the treatment of neuropathic pain, and TrkA-NAM, which targets severe pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis. AlzeCure aims to pursue its own projects through preclinical research and development through an early clinical phase, and is continually working on business development to find suitable outlicensing solutions with other pharmaceutical companies.
FNCA Sweden AB, +46(0)8 528 00 399 [email protected], is the company's Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit www.alzecurepharma.se.
About Neuropathic pain
Neuropathic pain affects approximately 7-8 percent of the total global adult population, approximately 600 million individuals. Some patients, with indications such as diabetes and HIV, are affected to a greater extent, where approximately 25 and 35 percent respectively of the patients experience neuropathic pain.
Peripheral neuropathic pain is the result of various types of damage to the nerve fibers, such as toxic, traumatic or nerve compression injuries as well a metabolic and infectious diseases. Common symptoms are painful tingling that can be described as "pins and needles", or choking or burning pain, as well as the feeling of getting an electric shock. Patients may also experience allodynia (pain caused by a stimulus that usually does not cause pain) or hyperalgesia (increased pain from a stimulus that normally provokes pain).
The market for neuropathic pain is characterized by a major medical need in all indications and in all major markets, where about 70-80 percent of patients do not get effective pain relief with existing treatment. Due to the risk of abuse, overdose and secondary damage, people now try to avoid opiates as first-line treatment for pain conditions. Despite this treatment problem, these preparations are still used frequently, and therefore the need for new treatments that are not opiates is very great.
The patient population will grow, among other things, due to an aging population and increased number of long-term cancer survivors and increasing prevlance of type-2 diabetes.
The global market for neuropathic pain was valued at $11 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $25 billion by 2027.
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CEO Martin Jönsson CMO Märta Segerdahl 2023
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AlzeCure presents clinical phase II-data with ACD440 for neuropathic pain at pain conference
SOURCE: AlzeCure Pharma