Aptinyx Releases Positive Data on Novel NMDA Receptor Modular Treating Parkinson’s Disease

Aptinyx (NASDAQ:APTX) has announced positive preclinical data on its novel NMDA receptor modulator, NYX-458, showing reverse effects in a non-human primate model of Parkinson’s disease.

As quoted in the press release:

“With up to half of all people with Parkinson’s disease experiencing cognitive impairment and very few therapeutic options addressing these cognitive deficits, the unmet need in Parkinson’s cognitive impairment is immense,” said Norbert Riedel, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer at Aptinyx. “The benefits observed in this highly translatable disease model demonstrate the potential for NYX-458 to be a much-needed improvement in treating these cognitive symptoms. It is highly encouraging that administration of NYX-458 was able to restore cognitive performance in this study – on some measures, back to healthy baseline levels – and we are eager to initiate a Phase 2 study in patients with Parkinson’s disease later this year.”

In the study, healthy non-human primates were trained on a battery of cognitive tests that are components of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) to establish a baseline level of performance. The CANTAB is often used in human clinical studies to assess levels of cognitive performance. Once the baseline cognitive performance was established, a neurotoxin called MPTP was administered chronically at low doses to deplete dopaminergic neurons and induce cognitive deficits similar to those experienced by people with Parkinson’s disease. Once a stable deficit was established, the non-human primates received a single dose of vehicle (placebo) and showed no improvement in cognitive performance. Following the placebo period, the primates were given a single dose of NYX-458 and assessed on the cognitive tests.

Administration of NYX-458 resulted in rapid, robust, and long-lasting improvements in cognitive performance across the battery of tests. In the Variable Delayed Response (VDR) assay, an assessment of attention and working memory, the effects observed were statistically significant (p < 0.05) on day one following a single administration of NYX-458 and remained significant at day twenty-one. NYX-458 was also shown to induce statistically significant cognitive improvements following a second course of MPTP dosing that was administered to deplete additional dopaminergic neurons and re-induce cognitive deficits. In the Simple Discrimination Reversal (SDR) assay, an assessment of cognitive flexibility or the ability to switch from thinking about one concept to another, administration of NYX-458 resulted in statistically significant improvements in discrimination reversal (p < 0.05). The robust improvements observed on cognitive performance were consistent across the battery of cognitive tests, were maintained with daily oral administration of NYX-458, and endured for approximately three months after dosing was discontinued.

Click here to read the full press release.