Date: 2015-04-16
Type of information: Grant
Company: Autifony Therapeutics (UK)
Investors: Biomedical Catalyst Fund (UK) Innovate UK (UK) Medical Research Council (UK)
Amount: £3.3 million
Funding type: grant
Planned used: This £3.3 million collaborative project will progress Autifony\'s new drug, AUT00206 into clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia. Autifony will be sponsor of the clinical trial, with Dr Oliver Howes at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), Kings College London and Professor Bill Deakin at the University of Manchester collaborating on the clinical studies. In addition, the highly successful preclinical collaboration with the University of Manchester and Newcastle University, which was previously funded by the Biomedical Catalyst Early Stage programme, will continue in support of the clinical studies. Autifony’s lead programme AUT00063 is a first-in-class Kv3 potassium channel modulator for hearing loss and tinnitus. AUT00206, a novel molecule with differentiated profile, is being developed against the same Kv3 ion channel target as a potential first-in-class new therapy for schizophrenia. Preclinical data generated with its academic partners under Autifony’s previous Early Stage programme suggest that AUT00206 may have potential to treat positive, cognitive and also negative symptoms of the disease, which would represent a breakthrough for schizophrenia patients. The Biomedical Catalyst Late Stage funding award will now enable Autifony to initiate clinical trials to test the safety and tolerability of AUT00206, and then with its academic collaborators to study effects of the drug on clinical biomarkers of schizophrenia in patients. The continuing collaboration with the University of Manchester and Newcastle University will enable further in-depth study of the new drug’s mechanism of action.
Others: * On April 16, 2015, Autifony Therapeutics announced a £3.3 million collaborative project to progress its new drug, AUT00206 into clinical trials for the treatment of schizophrenia. £2.4 million will come from the Biomedical Catalyst, jointly funded by Innovate UK and the Medical Research Council.
Therapeutic area: CNS diseases - Mental diseases
