| Project Detail |
PharmNovo aims to develop novel drugs with superior clinical properties to treat patients suffering from chronic pain using knowledge and experience in drug design and G protein-coupled receptor pharmacology.
Pharmnovo’s lead drug candidate is PN6047 - a completely new type of opioid drug for neuropathic pain, with a first-in-class market potential. Unlike the currently available opioid drugs which activate all opioid receptors, PN6047 is a very selective delta opioid receptor agonist (activator). Due to its unique molecular structure, PN6047 selectively activates the G protein signalling pathway while avoiding those leading to unwanted side effects such as the arrestin protein signalling pathway that mediates receptor desensitization and analgesic tolerance and possibly proconvulsant activity. PN6047 can be the first of a new drug class for neuropathic pain treatment - delta opioid-biased receptor agonists (DOBRAs).
Preclinical studies have shown that PN6047 is safe, tolerable and effective in treating neuropathic pain and also other pain-related indications such as opioid withdrawal and chronic cough. The clinical Phase I study has confirmed that PN6047 is safe and tolerable at doses predicted to be efficacious.
Now the drug is ready to proceed into a Phase IIa PoC study, which is the focus of the proposed Accelerator project. The confirmation of the clinical efficacy of PN6047 will enable us to enter an out-licensing agreement with one of the major players in the chronic pain market. Alternatively, it would allow us to attract significant equity investments and finance subsequent Phase IIb and III clinical trials, scale up manufacturing, market approval and product launch.
This project is of strategic health-economic importance for Europe. About 149 million people in Europe suffer from chronic pain including about 29.8 million neuropathic pain patients. In Europe, the healthcare cost of chronic pain is estimated at over €300bn annually (around 1.5% – 3% of GDP). |
