WATERTOWN, Mass. -- EnVivo Pharmaceuticals today announced the publication of two abstracts that will be presented at the 2008 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting describing the preclinical pharmacology of EVP-0334, an orally bio-available, brain penetrant HDAC inhibitor targeting CNS diseases.
The first abstract (Patzke, et al.) describes the in vitro pharmacological profile of HDAC isoform inhibition, brain penetration, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effects (increased histone acetylation in mouse brain) of the compound. In addition, this poster presentation discloses data supporting the clinical development of EVP-0334, including favorable safety profiles in genetic toxicology and multi-day in vivo toxicology studies.
The second abstract (Leventhal et al.) describes the short-term and long-term pro-cognitive effects of EVP-0334 in novel object recognition and water maze experiments in mice. Both of these papers, which will be presented at SfN’s meeting in November in Washington, D.C., support the clinical development of EVP-0334 as a novel, pro-cognitive, epigenetic therapy for Alzheimer disease and other CNS afflictions.
“We are excited to share these results with the scientific community,” said Kees Been, president and CEO of EnVivo. “EnVivo is focused on the development of HDAC inhibitors for CNS indications and we are confident in the potential power of this epigenetic mechanism for several diseases including Alzheimer’s disease. The efficacy and safety package of EVP-0334 is impressive and we are looking forward to our first-in-human studies later this year.”
EnVivo has a leading position for this novel mechanism of action. The program complements EnVivo’s pipeline, which is focused on disease modification in Alzheimer’s disease and cognition. EVP-6124, a nicotinic cholinergic alpha-7 receptor agonist, has recently completed a Phase Ib biomarker study in Schizophrenia patients and clinical studies in AD patients have been initiated. Substantial progress has also been made in the gamma-secretase modulator (GSM; disease modification in AD) and PDE-10 inhibitor (schizophrenia, cognition in schizophrenia) programs for which preclinical candidate nominations are targeted for fourth-quarter 2008.
About EnVivo Pharmaceuticals
EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, located in Watertown, Mass., is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics for disorders of the central nervous system, with current focus on Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, cognition and schizophrenia. The company’s lead program is an alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist for cognition disorders in Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. The company’s epigenetics program is based on Histone Deacetylase inhibition (HDACi) for cognition in Alzheimer’s disease. The company’s other preclinical programs include a Gamma Secretase Modulator and a PDE10 inhibitor. For more information about EnVivo, visit www.envivopharma.com.
