The Alterity Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ATH) share price has surged more than 70% in early trade after the company released new clinical data.
What new data has Alterity released?
Earlier today, Alterity released an announcement informing the market of new clinical and experimental pharmacology data for its lead drug candidate 'ATH434'. The new data was generated from experiment testing ATH434 in an animal model of Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) and confirmed that the drug reduces alpha-synuclein pathology, preserves neurons and improves motor performance in patients with MSA.
As a result, Alterity noted that the new data has been selected for presentation at the 2020 International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders and the American Neurological Association's annual meeting. In addition, Alterity will also present cardiac safety data from its Phase 1 study of ATH434, which will be the first-time information will be shared with international clinicians and researchers.
What does Alterity do?
Alterity is a biotechnology company that is focused on therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company's lead candidate, ATH434, is an orally bio-available, brain penetrant that's designed to inhibit the accumulation of pathological proteins involved in neurodegeneration. As indicated by today's news, ATH434 has been shown to reduce the accumulation of alpha-synuclein proteins in animal models and acts by redistributing labile iron in the brain.
As a result, Alterity's therapy has the potential to treat Parkinson's disease and other atypical forms of the disease such as MSA. MSA is a rare, rapidly progressive neurological disorder affecting adults and has no known cause. According to Alterity's management, there is an unmet medical need for new treatments for MSA with most symptoms of the disease remaining unaddressed by available drugs for Parkinson's disease.
In late June, Alterity announced that that it had received guidance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a development pathway for ATH434, with the company aiming to undertake a global development strategy.
Foolish takeaway
At the time of writing, the Alterity share price is trading more than 58% higher for the day at 5.4 cents, after hitting an intraday high of 5.8 cents earlier.
