Development grant
Trophos SA, a specialist in the discovery and development of drugs for treating neurological disorders, has won a two-year grant of nearly €1 million from the French research agency, Agence Nationale pour la Recherche, to support further development of TRO40303, a potential treatment in the arrest or prevention of cellular damage following heart attacks or strokes.
The project will be conducted in collaboration with Alain Berdeaux of the University of Creteil, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, and Michel Plotkine of Paris Descartes, Faculté de sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques de Paris.
TRO40303 is a novel compound identified using the proprietary neuronal cell screening platform developed at Trophos. Preclinical studies have demonstrated it can promote the function and survival of neurons, cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes.
The collaborative project aims to establish the therapeutic potential and preclinical proof-of-concept for TRO40303 in both cardiac and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury models.
In parallel, Trophos will complete regulatory preclinical studies to enable TRO40303 to begin clinical development, now expected in 2009.
We are very pleased that the ANR has chosen to support the preclinical and clinical development of TRO40303 as a potential treatment for cardiac and cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, indications with significant unmet medical needs and tremendous commercial potential,” said Antoine Béret, CEO of Marseille-based Trophos.
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