CytRx’s Reports Positive Results Of Arimoclomol Study

CytRx has reported positive results of the study evaluating arimoclomol. The data demonstrated that arimoclomol exhibited both significant neuroprotective and neuroregenerative effects in brain cells of animals induced with stroke.

Arimoclomol is a molecular chaperone amplifier to reduce the accumulation of damaged proteins that may play a role in multiple diseases and disorders.

Reportedly, the detailed cellular analysis in the brains of rats treated with arimoclomol following stroke inducement showed significantly increased molecular chaperone expression, decreases in both the number of cells undergoing programmed cell death (apoptosis), and the number of microglial cells that cause inflammation. It also showed increase in the number of developing neurons sprouting new projections, called neurites, which are indicative of neuroregeneration.

In the study, stroke was induced in rats by introducing blood clots into the middle cerebral artery, causing cerebral oxygen deprivation. These stroke-induced rats in groups of ten received an oral dose of arimoclomol daily for 28 days, with the initial dose administered either six, ten, 24 or 48 hours after stroke.

The results showed that arimoclomol treatment in all groups tended to increase the number of cells expressing HSP70 compared to controls in the zone surrounding the lesion, reaching statistical significance in those animals initially dosed either six or ten hours following the stroke event.

Moreover, all arimoclomol-treated groups tended to have a reduction in the number of apoptotic cells and microglial cells, compared to controls in the zone surrounding the lesion, again reaching statistical significance in those animals initially treated either six or ten hours after stroke.

Additionally, the treatment with arimoclomol initiated at all four time points following the stroke event significantly increased the number of newly developing neurons in both the zone surrounding the lesion, as well as in an area called the subventricular zone of the lateral ventricle – the typical origin of these cells prior to their migration to the damaged tissue.

Steven Kriegsman, president and CEO of CytRx, said: “These results help explain how arimoclomol achieved the dramatic improvements in functional recovery that we observed in our previously announced rat stroke studies.This better understanding of arimoclomol’s mechanism of action is an important piece of information that we expect will be valuable in attracting potential pharmaceutical or biotechnology partners for further development of this exciting drug candidate. Currently, t-PA is the only FDA-approved treatment for stroke and must be administered within three hours of the initiation of stroke. We believe that arimoclomol has the potential to reach a much larger market, as our animal studies have shown statistically significant results even when animals are treated ten hours or more after stroke onset. In addition, clinical testing of arimoclomol for stroke recovery could be less expensive, as more patients could be treated at fewer sites due to the expanded therapeutic window.”