Guilford Reports Progress With Neuroimmunophilins

Central nervous system specialist Guilford Pharmaceuticals has reported promising preclinical data with its range of neuroimmunophilin compounds, a class of agents which may generate drugs to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.

These agents, which were discovered in a program looking at the effects of immunosuppressants on the nervous system, are related to ciclosporin. Unlike their parent molecules, the compounds exert no immunosuppressant activity and have been shown to stimulate regeneration of a wide range of damaged nerves in vitro, while having no apparent effect on normal neurons. In addition, they are small-molecule agents which can be delivered orally and can readily cross the blood-brain barrier.

Researchers from Guilford presented preliminary data from a preclinical study using an animal model of Parkinson's disease at a conference in London recently, which provided evidence that these drugs can stimulate regrowth of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, the area of the brain which is most affected by neuronal degeneration in Parkinson's.