Aphios Granted US Patent for Combination Therapeutic to Treat Neurodegenerative Diseases

WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aphios Corporation announced today that it was granted United States Patent No. 10,828,276 on November 10, 2020, entitled “Combination Therapeutics and Methods for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative and Other Diseases.” This patent is part of a patent family granted in Japan (Patent No. 6,579,956 on September 06, 2019) and Europe (Patent No. 2,925,314 on January 04, 2020).

This invention is to treat Alzheimer's disease, Hutchinson's Disease, Parkinson disease, Down syndrome, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, glaucoma, and other spongiform encephalopathies. These neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the formation of beta amyloid (β-amyloid) plaques.

The combination therapeutic consists of biodegradable polymer nanospheres co-encapsulating a Bryoid and a Retinoid to improve synergistically alpha-secretase (α-secretase) production and reduce β-amyloid plaque generation. Bryoids such as Bryostatin-1, stimulate the production of certain isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC) that increase the production of α-secretase which makes soluble amyloid precursor protein, thus inhibiting the formation of β amyloid plaques. Retinoids such as all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA, retinoic acid) increase α-secretase activity via an increased amount of expressed ADAM10 protein.

According to Dr. Trevor P. Castor, President and CEO, Aphios Corporation, and inventor of this patent, “The effect of combining Bryostatin-1 and retinoic acid is not merely additive to increase α-secretase, but synergistic, wherein the Bryostatin-1 and retinoic acid interact to form greatly elevated levels of α-secretase to make the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases more effective. Co-encapsulation facilitates the delivery of both drugs to the target site at the same time while sustained delivery is achieved during degradation of the biodegradable polymer shell.”

About Aphios Corporation:

Aphios (www.aphios.com) is an emerging growth biotechnology company developing green enabling technology platforms to improve drug discovery, manufacturing, nanotechnology drug delivery and pathogenic safety. Based on these platforms, we are developing enhanced therapeutics to improve quality-of-life and treat chronic diseases such as prostate and pancreatic cancers, infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, and Central Nervous System disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Opioid Addiction in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Research leading to this invention was funded in part by a Phase I and II SBIR Grant No. R44-AG034760 from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health (NIH). The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent official views of NIA and the NIH.