With PhI win, Prexton targets Phase II

The study, which enrolled a total of 64 healthy volunteers to evaluate several doses of PXT002331, was the first in man clinical trial for an mGluR4 positive allosteric modulator, Prexton said. The study showed that PXT002331 is safe and well tolerated at doses well above those that produce robust effects in Parkinson’s disease animal models. “We are very happy with the completion of the first clinical trial with our lead compound PXT002331, which is the first mGluR4 PAM ever to enter a clinical phase. This is an important step for Prexton,” said Francois Conquet, CEO of Prexton Therapeutics. “This achievement ensures Prexton is in a solid position for a successful clinical development of PXT002331 as a novel treatment for Parkinson’s disease and we look forward to moving in that direction.”

Prexton, a Swiss biopharmaceutical company launched by Merck Ventures, the corporate venture capital fund of Merck, uses a unique approach for Parkinson’s. It stimulates a compensatory neuronal system that is not impacted by the disease. Competitors in this area mostly target the dopaminergic system instead, which Prexton believes does not address all symptoms and leads to  adverse effects. Prexton’s compound activates a specific target of the glutamatergic system, with the goal of providing a robust therapeutic effect without these adverse events. Preclinical data has shown that Prexton’s molecule is very efficient in animal models.

Now, Prexton is gunning for the next Phase. It plans to kick of a Phase II clinical trial in Parkinson’s disease patients in the first half of 2017, with the aim of demonstrating the effectiveness of the compound.