Dong-A ST (Dong-A ST) announced on the 26th that it will present the preclinical research results of DA-7503, a tau-targeting dementia treatment under development, in a poster session at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, from the 28th of this month to the 1st of next month (local time). AAIC is the largest international conference in the field of Alzheimer's, where researchers, including leading scholars worldwide and related pharmaceutical and biotech companies, gather annually to share research achievements on Alzheimer's disease and engage in various discussions.
At this conference, Dong-A ST will present a poster titled "Improvement of Tau Pathology and Reduction of Tau in Cerebrospinal Fluid by DA-7503 in Alzheimer's Disease and Tauopathy Disease Models." The company plans to disclose data on the improvement of memory and cognitive functions through DA-7503 in animal models of Alzheimer's disease and tauopathy, inhibition of tau aggregation and phosphorylation in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus?key pathological sites of Alzheimer's disease?and reduction of tau in cerebrospinal fluid.
Tau protein binds to microtubules in nerve cells to stabilize their structure. However, in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, modified tau detaches from microtubules and forms tau oligomers and aggregates that exhibit neurotoxicity. For this reason, along with amyloid-beta protein, tau is considered one of the main causes of Alzheimer's disease.
DA-7503 is a low-molecular-weight compound therapeutic that inhibits such aggregation. It selectively acts on detached and modified tau to suppress oligomer formation, thereby preventing intracellular accumulation. In May, it began a Phase 1 clinical trial in South Korea. The trial evaluates the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic properties of single and repeated oral doses of DA-7503 in 72 healthy adults and elderly subjects. It has also been selected as a dementia treatment development project by the Dementia Overcoming Research and Development Project Group.
A Dong-A ST official stated, "Through this preclinical study, we demonstrated that as the blood concentration of the drug increases after DA-7503 administration, tau in cerebrospinal fluid decreases in a dependent manner, confirming the potential tau clearance effect of DA-7503," and added, "We will do our best to develop the first-in-class dementia treatment in this category that can innovatively solve dementia problems."
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