Annovis Bio Publishes Results of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Animal Studies

BERWYN, Pa., April 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Annovis Bio Inc. (NYSE American: ANVS), a clinical-stage drug platform company addressing Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, published data from its two double-blind, placebo controlled animal studies in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) demonstrating in both diseases preclinical efficacy of ANVS401, the company’s lead compound.

“No drug to date has shown efficacy in two totally different animal models of neurodegeneration,” commented Maria Maccecchini, Ph.D., CEO of Annovis Bio. “In our AD animal studies, ANVS401 was shown to lower amyloid precursor protein (APP) and all its fragments, and animals fully recovered memory, learning, fear conditioning, and brain function. In our PD animal studies, ANVS401 lowered levels of α-synuclein and normalized gut motility in two transgenic animal models of PD. Together, these data are very exciting and provide strong support for moving forward in our development of ANVS401 for both AD and PD.”

The Alzheimer’s study, conducted by Professor Ottavio Arancio at Columbia University and published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, is the first study demonstrating the therapeutic efficacy in animals of inhibiting the translation of APP and its fragments in an AD model. Translational inhibition of APP by ANVS401 has been shown to reduce APP and its fragments in cell culture, animal models, and mildly cognitively impaired patients, making it a promising drug candidate for the treatment of AD.

The study used a mouse model of AD to examine ANVS401’s efficacy, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacokinetics. In the study, ANVS401 treatment normalized impairments in spatial working memory, contextual fear learning, and synaptic function in APP/presenilin-1 mice, without affecting their visual activity, motor skills, or motivation and without affecting wild-type mice. ANVS401 had a prolonged effect in reducing APP and all related peptides for at least nine hours after the last dose. Its concentration was higher in the brain than in plasma, and the most abundant metabolite was N⁸-NorPosiphen.