Saniona

“Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, which affects about 50 million people worldwide(1) of whom 30% are resistant to existing therapies” said Thomas Feldthus, CEO of Saniona. “There is a significant medical need for improved treatment options both for drug-resistant patients with highly prevalent idiopathic epilepsy as well as for patients with rare difficult-to-treat pediatric syndromes. The preclinical data indicates that SAN2219 can fill the unmet need of common epilepsy conditions as well as specific epilepsy syndromes. Saniona has the option to develop SAN2219 for highly prevalent epilepsy conditions in collaboration with a partner and/or for rare epilepsy syndromes internally.”

“Our preclinical data indicates that SAN2219 has the potential to fulfill important epilepsy unmet needs with strong seizure control, high tolerability, and low potential for tolerance development. This is a very difficult combination to achieve in any epilepsy drug,” said Karin Sandager Nielsen, CSO of Saniona. “The selection of SAN2219 demonstrates our ability to identify and develop new drug candidates that can address the unmet needs in epilepsy. Saniona has a deep knowledge and long track record in developing compounds that target ion channels which are known to play a fundamental role in seizure initiation and propagation. We have over the past years established a strong network with national and international epilepsy centers of excellence, where tremendous progress has been made to identify specific links between genetic mutations in ion channels and development of epilepsies.”

“We are very excited about the progression of this asset which is a result of several years of dedicated optimization of novel selective GABA modulators” said Janus Larsen, CDO of Saniona. “SAN2219 has the potential to offer better seizure control for epilepsy patients without adverse effects that often negatively affects everyday life.”

SAN2219 is a subtype selective activator of GABA-A α2/α3/α5 receptors. GABA is a neurotransmitter that inhibits signals between nerve cells in the brain. Most forms of epilepsy are caused by an over-excitability in specific neural circuits. By inhibiting the over-excitability in epilepsy, benzodiazepines have proven to be among the most effective treatment principles for control of seizure activity. Benzodiazepines are non-selective GABA modulators that broadly activate GABA receptors including the GABA-A α1 receptor subtype. Benzodiazepines are often used as rescue medicine in acute epilepsy, and their long-term use is often hampered by the development of tolerance to seizure control, withdrawal symptoms, and adverse events, such as cognitive impairment and sedation.

The dose limiting side effects and tolerance development of benzodiazepines are primarily mediated by the GABA-A α1 receptors. SAN2219 has been designed to selectively modulate GABA-A α2, α3 and α5, resulting in a robust inhibition of seizure activity without the well-known GABA-A α1 mediated side effects of benzodiazepines. The preclinical data supports that SAN2219 may be used for acute and chronic treatment of prevalent epilepsy forms as well as specific epilepsy syndromes.

1 https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/epilepsy-drug-market