Pre-clinical evidence demonstrates PBT434 as a potential treatment for MSA
Prana Biotechnology Ltd (ASX PBT: NASDAQ PRAN) today announced further pre-clinical evidence for PBT434 will be presented in a poster at the International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders® in Hong Kong on Sunday, October 7th, 2018 at 1:45pm.
The poster is entitled ‘PBT434 prevents the accumulation of glial cell inclusions and insoluble alpha-synuclein in a mouse model of Multiple System Atrophy’. Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease and an important form of atypical Parkinsonism. The data demonstrate in the most widely accepted animal model of the disease that PBT434 prevents α-synuclein aggregation, preserves neurons, decreases the number of glial cell inclusions and slows motor dysfunction. Glial cell inclusions are the key pathological finding in MSA and contain abundant aggregated α-synuclein that is associated with neurodegeneration. Alpha-synuclein is of great interest to scientists and clinicians because aggregated forms of the protein are toxic and underlie the pathology of neurological diseases such as MSA and Parkinson’s disease.
“We are excited to share these data with the movement disorder community because Multiple System Atrophy is a terrible disease and has no approved treatments. The data indicate that PBT434 targets the key pathology in MSA and has excellent potential to treat this devastating condition. Our Phase 1 study in healthy volunteers is ongoing and we look forward to bringing PBT434 to patient studies in the future”, said David Stamler, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Clinical Development.
PBT434 is the first of a new generation of small molecules designed to inhibit the aggregation of α-synuclein and tau, vital intracellular proteins that are implicated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and atypical Parkinsonism.