Proclara Presents New Preclinical Data Supporting The Development Of NPT189 At Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) 2017

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Proclara Biosciences, a biotechnology company developing novel therapies for diseases caused by protein misfolding, announced that new research and preclinical data describing the development of NPT189, its next-generation fusion protein, were presented today at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2017 (AAIC) in London, UK. NPT189 was designed to maximize binding potency to multiple toxic protein aggregates and to minimize the potential for immunogenicity.

“These encouraging data support our belief that Proclara’s GAIM-based technology can safely and effectively target multiple toxic protein aggregates implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, as well as in orphan amyloidoses,” said Richard Fisher, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Proclara. “We are pleased to present these findings at AAIC, which demonstrate the significant promise of our product engine and support the expansion of our pipeline with our second generation candidate NPT189.”

Study Results:

Proclara presented data from extensive mutagenesis studies designed to explore the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the GAIM-fusion variants for their mechanism of binding and remodeling amyloid aggregates. GAIM binding and amyloid fiber remodeling were found to be well correlated across variants. Remodeling of amyloid is a unique feature of the GAIM mechanism, which may facilitate removal and clearance of amyloid-GAIM-fusion complexes from the brain and other tissues.

These detailed SAR studies yielded the company’s next generation Ig-fusion protein, NPT189, which shows increased potency and a lower potential for immunogenicity. NPT189 was shown to block cell-to-cell transmission of a-synuclein aggregates in primary neuronal cultures and to reduce motor deficits and neuropathology in a mouse model for a-synuclein aggregate propagation. NPT189 also displays strong binding to immunoglobulin light chain aggregates derived from a range of patients and tissues, demonstrating its potential for targeting pathologic deposits in peripheral amyloidosis indications.

Proclara expects to file an investigational new drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for NPT189 for the treatment of orphan peripheral amyloidoses in the first half of 2018.

About Proclara Biosciences

Proclara Biosciences is a biotechnology company advancing product candidates developed based on its proprietary GAIM technology, which is capable of simultaneously targeting multiple toxic misfolded proteins. The broad applicability of the GAIM technology enables the company to target multiple protein misfolding diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases and orphan systemic amyloidoses. Proclara has developed a pipeline of drug candidates that use GAIM to target the common amyloid protein conformation, dissociating and preventing the formation of misfolded protein assemblies, and blocking the cell-to-cell transmission of toxic aggregates. The company’s lead program NPT088 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1b trial for Alzheimer’s disease.

For more information, please visit proclarabio.com.