Tag Archives: Mental Health

REMYELIUNATION THERAPY TRIAL

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First clinical trial of remyelination therapy PTD802 cleared in the UK

Pheno Therapeutics’ candidate is inhibitor of GPR17 receptor

The U.K.’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has cleared Pheno Therapeutics to initiate a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial to test its oral candidate PTD802 in healthy volunteers.

The therapy is a selective small molecule antagonist, or inhibitor, of the GPR17 receptor and is designed to restore the damaged and lost myelin — a process known as remyelination — in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and potentially other demyelinating conditions.

“We are delighted to have received approval from the MHRA to progress our PTD802 program to a Phase 1 trial, a major milestone, marking our transition to a clinical stage organization. As the first company to carry out dosing of a selective GPR17 antagonist in healthy humans, we are leading the way in the race to develop GPR17-targeting remyelination therapeutics,” Fraser Murray, PhD, Pheno Therapeutics’ CEO, said in a company press release. “With this first-in-human program we are moving closer to our goal of delivering transformational drugs for the treatment of neurological diseases associated with demyelination.”

MS is caused by the immune system erroneously targeting myelin, a protective layer that surrounds nerve fibers and is important for nerve signals to be efficiently transmitted. As myelin is lost, nerve cells also become damaged and patients experience a range of symptoms related to impaired nerve signaling.

An ‘urgent need’ for remyelination therapies

The search for therapies that promote myelin repair has been a key focus in MS research for many years. There are a number of treatments that reduce inflammation and prevent or slow further damage, but none can reverse the damage that’s already occurred.

“Current treatments for MS focus mainly on the immune aspects of the disease, reducing severity and frequency of relapses. There is an urgent and unmet need for effective therapeutics that limit disability progression in MS, with remyelination offering a promising neuroprotective treatment,” said Siddharthan Chandran, MD, PhD, co-founder of Pheno Therapeutics.

The GPR17 receptor works like a natural brake that slows the development of oligodendrocytes, the cells that produce myelin in the brain and spinal cord. PTD802 is designed to boost remyelination by releasing this brake. Pheno believes it may be used with existing MS therapies to better control disease progression and possibly help patients regain some lost function.

“Whilst GPR17 antagonists have potential utility beyond MS, PTD802 is a hugely promising first-in-class oral remyelination agent, which we believe will be the next step in devising combinatorial approaches to preventing MS progression,” Chandran said.

by Patricia Inacio, PhD | January 21, 2025

Reposted from Multiple Sclerosis News Today

MS Depression Robin William’s Tribute

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Robin William’s winning Academy Award

     What an incredibly sad tragedy it was to lose one of America’s funniest and all time greatest comic geniuses Robin William’s to suicide brought on by a debilitating case of depression. If one good thing could come out of this horrible event it would be a moment of awakening of America’s collective compassion, as well as acceptance, of the serious nature our mental health problems really are in this country. We can no longer ignore and try and bury this growing issue in the deepest recesses of our health care system as if it doesn’t pertain to every single individual nationwide, or even worldwide, for that matter. It is past time that we finally relegate mental health with equal concern to all other considerations in our health care system.

     As a person who suffers from MS I know this all to well as I have spent many of my working years in the mental health field as both a group home counselor and as a unit coordinator in a mental health treatment facility. But there is even a bigger reason for my concern and interest in the field of mental health. As a child, I was also diagnosed with mild to moderate depression. And in a strange way my, on again off again, depressive state is much like the multiple sclerosis I was diagnosed with sixteen years ago in that it can be triggered into an active dark state of being only to recede just as quickly back to a place of relative remission. And also just like MS, depression is a silent and invisible intruder, that stalks its prey with little if any noticeable changes to anyone outside of the person who is experiencing its extreme emotional and physical wrath.

    In my case, I have been extremely fortunate to never have been so consumed by my inner demons as to consider suicide a viable alternative, but that doesn’t mean that from time to time I must find the inner strength to face these forces of emotional mental destruction head on. And my deepest battle with these personal enemies came simultaneously, which one would expect I think, with my diagnoses of multiple sclerosis. It rocked my mental world in the worst kind of way right to its core. At that time I couldn’t think of anything any worse that could have ever happened to me. Which of course, isn’t true. But it did take me two plus years of being on the antidepressant Zoloft along with strong family and friend support before again the Sun finally rose in my world.

     I am very happy to report now that I have been reasonably safe and sane for going on nearly ten years, but I am always aware that it takes vigilance and a positive outlook on all aspects of my life to remain ahead of the many pitfalls that can occur without warning to stay one step ahead of depression. And one of the biggest things that I have come to realize in my fifty seven years of life is that we all, without exception, can fall victim to our own mental instabilities and emotional environmental trauma’s. And just like the flu, anyone at anytime can have a mental health crises. And it’s nothing to ever be ashamed of because it’s just one more of our shared human frailties!

      RIP Robin, we’ll miss the laughter that you brought into all of our lives!

 

By Bill Walker