A Vancouver biotech company has filed for a patent on a new drug it believes could treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
ImStar Therapeutics, a new Vancouver-headquartered company formed around the discoveries of Quebec scientist Jean-Pierre Julien, filed a patent application November 25 on a class of compounds and within that group has identified a new lead drug candidate called IMS-088.
IMS-088 is derived from withaferin A, a natural compound from the leaves of the winter cherry plant. ImStar believes it is effective as a pathway blocker that could turn off an immune system response that causes ALS.
A biological pathway is chemical change that can turn genes off or on, create new molecules within cells (like fats or proteins) or change the shape of a cell.
IMS-088 has been shown in the lab to inhibit the activation of a biological pathway that triggers an immune system response that is believed to cause neurons to become abnormal and cause ALS.
"Basically it blocks a pathway that is involved in activating the immune system," ImStar CEO Daniel Wattier told Business in Vancouver. "Neurodegenerative diseases like ALS are turning out to be related to the immune system in certain ways that we didn't realize before."
The company plans to file for an Investigational New Drug application through the United States Food and Drug Administration later in 2014. If approved, that would set the stage for clinical trials.
"Phase One would be about a year and half from now," Wattier said.
ImStar Therapeutics has to date been funded by angel investors, including Julia Levy, founder of QLT Inc. (TSX:QLT), who chairs ImStar's board of directors.
The company now plans to raise venture capital to help fund its clinical trials.
"We need to raise millions and millions of dollars to get into the clinic," Wattier said.
