NeuroVive,Karolinska Institutet collaboration on mitochondrial myopathy treatment

NeuroVive Pharmaceutical AB, the mitochondrial medicine company, has signed collaboration agreement with Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, regarding development of the company’s compound NV556 for the treatment of mitochondrial myopathy.

Under the collaboration agreement, the team led by Prof. Håkan Westerblad at Karolinska Institutet will study NeuroVive’s cyclophilin inhibitor compound NV556 and its effects in experimental models of mitochondrial myopathy.

The Karolinska Institutet research team previously published results where they show that another cyclophilin inhibitor, ciclosporin, shows mitochondrial protective effects mediated through inhibition of cyclophilin D, resulting in prevention of muscle fiber weakness in an experimental model of mitochondrial myopathy, the company explained. Furthermore, they have shown that patients with mitochondrial myopathy have increased levels of cyclophilin D, the target for NeuroVive’s compound NV556. NV556 is expected to have higher specificity and tolerability than ciclosporin, which may facilitate better optimization of dosage.

This collaboration expands NeuroVive’s presence in the genetic mitochondrial disease field, which is a NeuroVive key focus area and where NeuroVive also develops its NVP015 compounds in mitochondrial respiratory chain diseases. The NV556 compound that is studied under this collaboration is targeting cyclophilin D, and has therefore a different and complementary mode of action than the NVP015 compounds which target the respiratory chain supporting cell energy production, the company explained.