Use of Auranofin for Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders

­Competitive Advantages

• Potential treatment for Alzheimer’s, FTD, and other neurodegenerative disorders
• Results show that various factors including insulin lead to activation of aPKC and the NFkappa-B inflammatory pathway in brain neurons and glial cells
• Auranofin (AF) is an FDA approved drug for other uses, thus relatively easy to conduct studies
• International (PCT) patent application recently filed

Summary

There is an on-going need for effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Parkinson’s disease, ALS and other neurodegenerative disorders. A common denominator in these disorders is the activation of the NFkappa-B dependent inflammatory pathway.  AF is used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, can be given orally, and crosses the blood brain barrier. New research shows that  AF blocks aPKC activation by insulin or other factors and prevents the activation of NFkappa-B and inflammation. aPKC controls beta-secretase levels and tau phosphorylation. We seek a pharmaceutical company, as a partner, to study the effectiveness of AF and its potential in treating patients with Alzheimer’s disease, FTD and other neurodegenerative disorders. 

Chemical structure of Auranofin (AF)

Desired Partnerships

• Sponsored Research
• Co-Development