Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company leveraging significant government funding to develop a platform of novel compounds in oncology and biodefense, announced preliminary results from an ongoing study being conducted by Manisha Patel, PhD at the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to develop AEOL10150 as a medical countermeasure against nerve agents, entitled “Evaluation of Neuroprotective Effects of AEOL10150 against Chemical Threat Agents”. The study is funded by a Grant from the NIH CounterACT Program.
The primary objectives of the NIH CounterACT Grant awarded to the University of Colorado are to evaluate the neuroprotective efficacy of AEOL 10150 against pilocarpine-induced neurotoxicity in rats. Pilocarpine is a surrogate of nerve agents. Exposure to organophosphate nerve agents, metabolic poisons, or high levels of sulfur mustard and pesticides can trigger seizures and loss of consciousness. The two year award builds on research conducted by Dr. Patel in rodent models of neurotoxicity and neurodegeneration. Her laboratory has demonstrated that oxidative stress plays a central role in seizure-induced brain injury, and since nerve agents elicit seizures, it is important to determine whether AEOL10150 is neuroprotective against such agents.
The study confirmed AEOL10150’s ability to cross the rat blood brain barrier and achieve sufficient levels to exert its neuroprotective effects. Further, the study showed that subcutaneous administration of AEOL10150 30 min prior to or 60 and 90 minutes after nerve agent exposure resulted in inhibition of markers of oxidative stress and neuronal damage.
“These new data show that AEOL 10150 has potential neuroprotective properties against chemical nerve agents and broaden the utility of protection proved by AEOL 10150 across the chemical threat spectrum”, stated John L. McManus, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “This study builds on prior work that has shown AEOL 10150 to be an effective countermeasure to protect the lungs from damage due to inhalation of chlorine, sulfur mustard, and phosgene gas and well as protection against radiologic damage to the lungs and gastrointestinal tract.”
AEOL 10150 is currently under development as a broad spectrum medical countermeasure with support from the US Government. NIH CounterACT is funding research and development of the compound as a countermeasure against exposure to nerve agents, chlorine gas and sulfur mustard gas. NIH-NIAID is conducting animal efficacy studies of the compound as a countermeasure for the gastrointestinal (GI) effects of acute radiation syndrome (ARS), and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded the Company a contract valued up to $118 million to develop AEOL 10150 as a countermeasure against Lung ARS/delayed-effects of radiation exposure (DEARE).
Date: July 30, 2012
Source: Aeolus Pharmaceuticals
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
