Edasalonexent Promising for DMD, nVNS May Resolve Vestibular Migraine Symptoms, NIA Backs New Alzheimer Disease Research Centers

This week, Neurology News Network covered phase 2 study results of edasalonexent for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, results of a small study that suggest noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation may be a viable treatment option for vestibular migraine, and the launch of 2 new Alzheimer disease research centers supported by the National Institute on Aging.

Alicia: Welcome to Neurology News Network. I’m Alicia Bigica. Let’s get into the news from this week.

Results from a phase 2 study of edasalonexent, an oral small molecule nuclear factor kappa light chain inhibitor being investigated for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy suggest that the therapy is associated with slowed disease progression, as well as a good safety profile over the course of more than 50 patient-years of exposure in boys with the disease.

Treatment with the drug, which was evaluated at 100 mg per day in the MoveDMD trial, was associated with improvements in 10-meter walk/run scores, time-to-stand scores, and 4-stair climb scores in 31 steroid-naïve patients with DMD age 4 to 7. A phase 3 trial, PolarisDMD, is currently recruiting.

New study results suggest that noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation may provide quick relief for patients with acute vestibular migraine. Of the 14 patients treated, 13 experienced an improvement, with a mean reduction of vertigo intensity of 46.9% and mean reduction in headache severity of 3.6 points. While preliminary, the results warrant further randomized and sham-controlled studies, according to the investigators.

The National Institute on Aging has thrown its support behind the launch of 2 new research centers focused on diversifying the Alzheimer disease drug development pipeline. With funding expected to total more than $73 million over 5 years, the Alzheimer Centers for the Discovery of New Medicines will seek to provide needed research tools and technology that can help validate and advance new therapeutic targets. These tools will be made available to the greater research community — including those in academia and industry – free of charge. Grants for the 2 centers have been awarded to 2 multi-specialty and multi-institutional research teams who have broad expertise across data science, disease biology, assay development, pharmacology, clinical science, and more.

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