Avilex Pharma receives Wellcome Trust Translation Award
Avilex Pharma announces that it has received a 18 million DKK (2.4 million EUR) Translation Award from Wellcome Trust to fund the development of a novel drug candidate for acute treatment of ischemic stroke. Ischemic stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, with very few treatment options currently available.
Avilex Pharma is developing a drug for the treatment of ischemic stroke based on a novel concept of inhibiting the neuronal scaffolding protein, PSD-95. Inhibitors of PSD-95 may provide a safe and efficient mechanism for alleviating the neuronal damage caused by ischemic stroke. Avilex Pharma is employing a novel concept for inhibiting PSD-95 using dimeric ligands that target two protein modules of PSD-95 simultaneously. This has led to identification of a lead compound, UCCB01-144. The specific design of UCCB01-144 provides several key advantages such as exceptionally high affinity to PSD-95, increased stability, and enhanced in vivo neuroprotective properties. UCCB01-144 is an extensively optimized dimeric PSD-95 inhibitor and a preclinical lead candidate for the treatment of ischemic stroke.
The award from the Wellcome Trust will fund the preclinical development of UCCB01-144.
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