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Neurizon Therapeutics (ASX:NUZ) has declared its in-house product NUZ-001 Sulfone granted neuroprotective effects against Huntington’s Disease (HD) in zebrafish.
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That might sound strange, but here’s the kicker: The zebrafish shares a lot of genes with humans, useful to a wide swath of research.
It sounds strange, but the science is there. While COVID-19 swept the world, in the world of HD research (a rare neurodegenerative condition), scientists were renewing their understanding of using zebrafish models to extrapolate data with more human-facing implications.
Going further back, researchers in 2015 were already proving the zebrafish can be a helpful ‘model’ in which to test compounds seeking to address HD.
While this is getting off topic, it’s worth bringing up: The zebrafish is also of interest to researchers looking at ways to improve healing human burn wounds.
Grafting fish skin onto human beings might sound preposterous, but certain regenerative properties inherent to some species of fish do boast real-world potential.
In fact, it’s been used in human skin studies for two decades.
So Neurizon’s Monday disclosure, despite possibly sounding left-of-field, speaks to well-established scientific literature. And its news that NUZ-001 produced neuroprotective effects leaves open one big possibility.
“Treatment prevented hallmark developmental and morphological abnormalities, protected against neuronal cell death, restored delayed haemoglobin production, and rescued BDNF expression following Htt protein knockdown,” Neurizon wrote on Monday.
The possibility, here, is the same could be true for human patients in the future.
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To that end, the company intends to commence launching mammalian studies, seeking to replicate early-stage evidence that NUZ-001 can be neuroprotective in those species, too.
While it remains to be seen, the ultimate trajectory here is clear: The company is inching towards human studies, all cards in order. Biotech watchers and investors alike probably won’t be shocked to learn that could take some time.
NUZ last traded at 15.5cps.
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