Stealth Biotherapeutics Inc. has been awarded the Kyle Bryant Translational Research Award from the Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) to evaluate mitochondria-targeted molecule SBT-589 in Friedreich’s ataxia (FA).
Interim data from two early stage Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) cardiomyopathy studies from Lexeo Therapeutics Inc. hit the mark by reducing heart muscle thickness, a key cause of death among patients with the rare disease. The results came from the Sunrise-FA phase I/II study and an investigator-initiated phase Ia study of LX-2006, an adeno-associated virus-mediated gene therapy encoding the human frataxin gene. The drug is designed to improve frataxin protein expression to improve mitochondrial cell function.
Stealth Biotherapeutics Inc. has presented new data demonstrating cardioprotective effects of SBT-589 in preclinical models of Friedreich’s ataxia (FA). SBT-589 acts on mitochondrial pathways essential for cellular health and energy production that are impaired in FA cardiomyopathy.
Voyager Therapeutics Inc. has announced the selection of a lead development candidate from its Friedreich’s ataxia program with collaborator Neurocrine Biosciences Inc.
The latest firm to brave the rough IPO market, Lexeo Therapeutics Inc. made its Nasdaq debut after pricing about 9.1 million shares at $11 per share, raising proceeds of $100 million to advance its early clinical work on gene therapies for cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
Variable muscle expression of frataxin (FXN) protein in muscle plus five adverse events (AEs) of injection-site thrombophlebitis in the multiple ascending-dose (MAD) phase I study hamstrung Design Therapeutics Inc. in its Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) bid with DT-216. Wall Street punished the Carlsbad, Calif.-based firm’s stock (NASDAQ:DSGN) with a knockdown of 70%, or $5.17, leaving shares at $2.17 when the market closed Aug. 15.
A Design Therapeutics Inc. patent details conjugates consisting of DNA-binding moiety capable of noncovalently binding to a nucleotide repeat sequence linked to protein binding moiety through oligomeric backbone linker.
“We clearly see an active drug here,” PTC Therapeutics Inc. CEO Matthew Klein said of the 15-lipoxygenase inhibitor vatiquinone for Friedreich’s ataxia (FA), tested in a phase III study called Move-FA that missed the primary endpoint of statistically significant change in modified FA Rating Scale score at 72 weeks. The company will “take one step at a time” decisions about the drug, analyzing the results and then consulting with the U.S. FDA regarding how to proceed, he said. Meanwhile, Wall Street wasn’t happy, and South Plainfield, N.J.-based PTC’s shares (NASDAQ:PTCT) closed May 24 at $46.95, down $11.46, or 19.6%.
Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the FXN gene and characterized by cardiomyopathy, gait ataxia and sensory loss, with cardiac complications the main cause of death among patients with FA.
