AlzeCure gets an abstract on non-opioid ACD440 for neuropathic pain accepted at the EFIC 2023 Conference

AlzeCure gets an abstract on non-opioid ACD440 for neuropathic pain accepted at the EFIC 2023 Conference

AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ) (FN STO: ALZCUR) a pharmaceutical company that develops a broad portfolio of drug candidates for diseases affecting the central nervous system, with projects in both Alzheimer’s disease and pain, today announced that an abstract on ACD440, the leading non-opioid drug candidate in the Painless platform, has been accepted for presentation at the annual international pain conference EFIC, European Pain Federation, which this year is being held in Budapest, Hungary, on September 20-22.

The abstract, titled A study of ACD440 gel for the treatment of patients with peripheral neuropathic pain with sensory hypersensitivity, will be presented at EFIC 2023 by Dr. Märta Segerdahl, project leader and CMO at AlzeCure.

The presentation will include results from the ongoing phase II clinical trial of ACD440 in patients with peripheral neuropathic pain. This study is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized crossover study aimed at evaluating the efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of AlzeCure's lead candidate drug in pain, ACD440. The main results from the study are expected by the summer of 2023 at the latest.

”The results from the ongoing study, which we expect to receive at the latest this summer, will be very interesting to evaluate. We believe that ACD440 could significantly improve the quality of life for patients suffering from neuropathic pain”, said Dr Märta Segerdahl.

AlzeCure's drug candidate ACD440 is a TRPV1 antagonist for the local treatment of patients with peripheral neuropathic pain. The discovery of TRPV1 that underlies the project was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2021. There is thus a strong scientific basis for this biological mechanism, including its relationship to pain signaling. ACD440, which is also the company's leading drug candidate within the Painless platform, completed a positive phase Ib study in 2021. It showed both very good tolerability and safety, but also a potent, long-lasting pain-relieving effect of the substance that is applied as a gel to the skin.

"The development of ACD440 takes place in an area with very large medical needs where up to 80% of patients do not get a satisfactory effect with their current treatments. The neuropathic pain market is also the single largest market segment in pain management with annual sales exceeding USD 11 billion, reflecting the large number of people affected", said Martin Jönsson, CEO of AlzeCure Pharma.

For more information, please contact

Martin Jönsson, CEO
Tel: +46 707 86 94 43
martin.jonsson@alzecurepharma.com

About AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ)

AlzeCure® is a Swedish pharmaceutical company that develops new innovative drug therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions that affect the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer’s disease and pain – indications for which currently available treatment is very limited. The company is listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and is developing several parallel drug candidates based on three research platforms: NeuroRestore®, Alzstatin® and Painless.

NeuroRestore consists of two symptomatic drug candidates where the unique mechanism of action allows for multiple indications, including Alzheimer’s disease, as well as cognitive disorders associated with traumatic brain injury, sleep apnea and Parkinson’s disease. The Alzstatin platform focuses on developing disease-modifying and preventive drug candidates for early treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and comprises two drug candidates. Painless is the company’s research platform in the field of pain and contains two projects: ACD440, which is a drug candidate in the clinical development phase for the treatment of neuropathic pain, and TrkA-NAM, which targets severe pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis. AlzeCure aims to pursue its own projects through preclinical research and development through an early clinical phase, and is continually working on business development to find suitable outlicensing solutions with other pharmaceutical companies.

FNCA Sweden AB is the company’s Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit www.alzecurepharma.se.

About Neuropathic pain
Neuropathic pain affects approximately 7–8 percent of the total global adult population, approximately 600 million individuals. Some patients, with indications such as diabetes and HIV, are affected to a greater extent, where approximately 25 and 35 percent respectively of the patients experience neuropathic pain.

Peripheral neuropathic pain is the result of various types of damage to the nerve fibers, such as toxic, traumatic or nerve compression injuries as well a metabolic and infectious diseases. Common symptoms are painful tingling that can be described as “pins and needles”, or choking or burning pain, as well as the feeling of getting an electric shock. Patients may also experience allodynia (pain caused by a stimulus that usually does not cause pain) or hyperalgesia (increased pain from a stimulus that normally provokes pain).

The market for neuropathic pain is characterized by a major medical need in all indications and in all major markets, where about 70-80 percent of patients do not get effective pain relief with existing treatment. Due to the risk of abuse, overdose and secondary damage, people now try to avoid opiates as first-line treatment for pain conditions. Despite this treatment problem, these preparations are still used frequently, and therefore the need for new treatments that are not opiates is very great.

The patient population will grow, among other things, due to an aging population and increased number of long-term cancer survivors and increasing prevlance of type-2 diabetes.

The global market for neuropathic pain was valued at $11 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow to $25 billion by 2027.