Cognition Therapeutics is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the creation and clinical development of a pipeline of disease-modifying small molecule drug candidates that stop neurological disease processes and restore and preserve the building blocks of brain health and function: the synapse.
Cognition’s lead candidate, Elayta™ (CT1812), is a proprietary first-in-class, orally dosed and highly brain penetrant small molecule in development for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
A significant body of genetic and clinical evidence points to accumulation of Aβ as the central pathogenic cause of Alzheimer’s disease. When Aβ protein accumulates in the brain, it changes shape and takes a variety of different structural forms:
- The fibrillar form of the protein (Aβ proteins lined up in an infinite polymer) accumulates in plaques, the brain lesions that characterize Alzheimer’s disease;
- Alternatively, Aβ can form a different globular shape known as an oligomer (composed of multiple Aβ molecules in a medusa-like structure).
Scientific evidence indicates that oligomeric Aβ is the most neurotoxic form of the Aβ protein. This is because, when bound to their target receptor complex on synapses, Aβ oligomers trigger a neurotoxic cascade that leads to synapse loss and neuronal death.
Elayta allosterically modulates (changes the shape of) a key protein regulator of the Aβ oligomer receptor site: the sigma-2 receptor complex. Elayta’s interaction with sigma-2 destabilizes the oligomer binding site, resulting in the displacement of Aβ oligomers from synapses and their clearance into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). As a result, Elayta has the potential to restore synaptic numbers and function.
History
Cognition Therapeutics was founded on a unique combination of biological expertise in synaptic function and plasticity, a deep understanding of and focus on the role of toxic soluble proteins, and proprietary CNS-biased chemistry. Supported by dedicated investors as well as Alzheimer’s disease focused entities including the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and the National Institute on Aging of the NIH, Cognition’s founders, Susan Catalano, Ph.D. and Gilbert Rishton, Ph.D. and their team identified Elayta and brought this molecule into Phase 2 clinical development.
Mission
Cognition’s mission is to stop the unrelenting progression of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and by doing so alter the impact of the societal tsunami of these fatal diseases.
Elayta’s Status
Based on its initial clinical trial in individuals with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease, Elayta was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Elayta is covered by composition of matter patents worldwide.
Elayta is currently in Phase 2 development for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease. More information about these studies may be found here.
Biotechnology: Saving Lives & Transforming Healthcare in the 21st Century
Cognition Therapeutics is a member of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), which is dedicated to promoting the value of the current and future biopharmaceutical industry. Modern biotechnology may be a young industry, but in just a few decades the entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers and investors working in this field will have established themselves at the forefront of medical innovation. To learn more about how their work may transform the way we treat patients with a wide range of once-devastating diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, and what tools, resources and policies will pave the way to these advances, please click here.