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Study finds Alterity Therapeutic’s (ASX:ATH) treatment protects brain cells and improves motor function

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ASX:ATH      MCAP $31.42M
21 April 2021 14:40 (AEST)
Alterity Therapeutics (ASX:ATH) - CEO & Chairman, Geoffrey Kempler

Source: Finance News Network

Alterity Therapeutics (ATH) will present new findings of its ATH434 drug’s ability to treat Parkinsonian disorders to the American Academy of Neurology.

The biotech company is set to take part in the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN) virtual annual meeting today to deliver expanded animal data in a bid to support the commercialisation of ATH434.

Recent data from an animal model of Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) — a disease that currently has no approved treatments — has independently confirmed and extended previous findings demonstrating ATH434 reduces α-synuclein pathology, preserves neurons and improves motor function.

Described as the company’s lead candidate, ATH explains ATH434 as a “new generation of small molecules designed to inhibit the aggregation of pathological proteins implicated in neurodegeneration.”

The drug mainly targets Parkinsonian disorders, which are a group of diseases in which individuals experience slowness of movement, stiffness and tremor.

“These new data are very encouraging and provide a strong rationale for the disease-modifying potential of ATH434,” Alterity’s Chief Executive Officer Dr David Stamler commented.

“The establishment of a clear correlation between the preservation of neurons and motor performance with ATH434 is a significant advance and provides important further data to support clinical development,” he added.

The presentation detailing these further findings, titled “ATH434 Preserves Dopaminergic Neurons, Reduces α-synuclein Oligomerization, and Improves Motor Function in a Transgenic Murine Multiple System Atrophy Model 1”, is expected to be presented at the meeting today.

Alterity said the study was conducted independently in the laboratory of Dr Nadia Stefanova, Professor of Translational Neurodegeneration Research at the Medical University of Innsbruck.

Alterity Therapeutics shares have received a 23.3 per cent boost following the announcement, to trade at 3.7 cents at 3:28 pm AEST.

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