Xonovo Drug for Alzheimer’s

Xonovo Inc. and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) announced that they entered into an Exclusive Worldwide Licensing Agreement for intellectual property rights related to small molecule synthetic derivatives of the natural brain metabolite Lanthionine Ketimine (LK), developed at OMRF. The lead molecule – XN-001 – has shown promising results in treating multiple neurodegenerative diseases in animal models.

XN-001 has demonstrated encouraging effects in tests on mouse models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) across several study centers in the USA. Specifically, XN-001 has been shown to treat all three hallmarks of AD in experimental triple transgenic mice by reducing amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) burden, reducing phospho-tau (a component of Alzheimer’s disease-associated neurofibrillary tangles), and relieving cognitive decline. These results have been published in multiple peer-reviewed journals. XN-001 is being tested in other preclinical models of pediatric brain disorders including Batten disease.

XN-001 affects the root cause of a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases. Its novel Mechanism of Action (MOA) is based on targeting a protein called CRMP2 to improve both axonal transport and autophagy.

“This agreement underscores our commitment to pursue treatments for AD patients, and we hope to successfully complete the pre-clinical phase in 18 months and to commence human studies” said Dr. Rafi Gidron and Dr. Ofir Levi, co-founders of Xonovo.