Beyond Biotech podcast 55: Inflammasomes

This week on our podcast, we’re talking about inflammasome inhibitors with Alan Watt, CEO of NodThera.

The company recently announced it is the first to show a reduction in neuroinflammation with an inflammasome inhibitor.

​​NodThera announced positive initial data from four subjects in the elderly volunteer stage of its phase Ib/IIa study evaluating the effects of its lead candidate NT-0796 on inflammatory and disease-specific biomarkers in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

NodThera is a clinical-stage biotech developing brain-penetrant NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitors to treat chronic inflammatory diseases.

Initial data from the ongoing study confirm earlier findings from the completed first-in-human and preclinical studies with NT-0796 showing excellent pharmacokinetics with a novel capsule formulation.

Subjects in the study were cannulated and CSF-sampled on day one (pre-dose) and day seven following daily NT-0796 dosing. CSF drug levels were confirmed as consistent with previous observations and a range of inflammatory CSF biomarkers demonstrated meaningful reductions.

Neurofilament light chain (NfL), exclusively synthesized in the central nervous system (CNS), decreased by approximately 25% over seven days in the most inflamed subject and by 13% on average. NfL is now recognised by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a key biomarker of neuroaxonal damage and neurodegeneration.