Trophos to develop compounds for ischemia-reperfusion injury

Trophos, a French-based biopharmaceutical company specialising in the discovery and development of drugs for neurological disorders, has been awarded a two-year grant of under 1m by the French research agency, Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR), to support a project named IRIstop.

IRIstop aims to further evaluate the ability of the Trophos drug candidate, TRO40303, to arrest or prevent the cellular damage that occurs in preclinical models of both cardiac and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. The IRIstop project will be conducted in collaboration with Professor Alain Berdeaux (University of Creteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomedicale, INSERM U841) and Professor Michel Plotkine (Paris Descartes, Faculte de sciences pharmaceutiques et biologiques de Paris).

TRO40303 is representative of novel compounds identified using the proprietary neuronal cell screening platform developed at Trophos. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that these compounds promote the function and survival of neurons, cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes under various disease-relevant stress conditions, via a mitochondria-based mechanism of action. Initial data from preclinical studies employing widely accepted in vivo models of cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury support the further development of TRO40303 as an effective treatment for ischemia-reperfusion injury. The collaborative IRIstop project aims to establish the therapeutic potential and preclinical proof-of-concept for TRO40303 in both cardiac and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury models. In parallel, Trophos will complete regulatory preclinical studies that will enable TRO40303 to begin clinical development, now expected in 2009.

"We are very pleased that the ANR has chosen to support the preclinical and clinical development of TRO40303 as a potential treatment for cardiac and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, indications with significant unmet medical needs and tremendous commercial potential," said Antoine Beret, CEO at Trophos. "This would be the second Trophos product to enter the clinic with a mitochondria-based mechanism of action that is predicted to exhibit a therapeutic benefit in diseases such as neuropathic pain, ischemia-reperfusion injury and hepatotoxicity. TRO19622, our lead product, is currently enrolling patients in a Phase IIa trial in painful diabetic neuropathy and a Phase Ib study in SMA."