NIH awards Oligomerix $2.49 million to support development of oral Alzheimer's treatment

Biotechnology company Oligomerix announced a $2.49 million award from the NIH to support phase 1b studies of OLX-07010, an oral tau self-association small molecule inhibitor, according to a company press release.

The investigational drug targets the early stages of tau aggregation, which is believed to play a role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, the release stated.

“We are extremely pleased to receive this R44 grant [that] will allow us to plan for a phase 1b, double-blind clinical study of OLX-07010 in patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” William Erhardt, MD, president and head of development at Oligomerix, said in the release. “The proposed work is designed to support longer-term dosing required to assess both safety and efficacy of our compound in patients.”

According to the release, Oligomerix received $3.35 million from the NIH in August to support a phase 1a clinical trial of OLX-07010, which is expected to begin this year. The company submitted an investigational new drug application to the FDA in mid-2022 to launch the phase 1a study, which will evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of the drug in healthy participants. OLX-07010 has demonstrated efficacy in multiple animal models of tau-mediated neurodegeneration, the company stated.

“There remains an urgent need for disease-modifying drugs for AD that are safe and efficacious, cost-effective and easy to administer,” James Moe, PhD, MBA, CEO and head of discovery and strategy at Oligomerix, said in the release. “Our lead small molecule inhibitor of tau self-association, OLX-07010, is being evaluated to fill this need.”