New Phase III trial tests LMTX (TauRX Therapeutics) in patients with Pick's Disease - 11-Sep-2012

A new global Phase III clinical trial will test LMTX, from TauRx Therapeutics, in patients with a type of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) also known as Pick's Disease. The study focuses on a type of FTD known as behavioural-variant, or bvFTD, which can cause early changes in personality and loss of empathy. A large percentage of these patients have a specific pathology that involves abnormal collections of tau protein in the brain. The Phase III double-blind placebo-controlled study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of LMTX, a second-generation Tau Aggregation Inhibitor (TAI). The study aims to confirm the results first seen in the pilot cases in a larger controlled clinical trial in bvFTD patients over a 52-week timeframe. Participating study sites are located in Canada, US, Australia, Europe and Singapore. Because the condition is relatively rare, TauRx was granted Orphan Designation for LMTX in 2010. The TauRx team have discovered that LMTX could also have beneficial effects on other proteins which aggregate abnormally, including TDP-43 in FTD and synuclein in Parkinson's disease.