On September 13th, the pharmaceutical company Vico Therapeutics announced positive interim phase 1/2a clinical data of VO659 in the treatment of Huntington’s disease.
VO659 demonstrated a 28% average reduction in levels of the mutated gene that causes Huntington’s disease 85 days after treatment in patients given a 40mg dose. VO659 is generally safe and well tolerated.
Vico therapeutics is a company developing therapies for neurological conditions, including some of the spinocerebellar ataxias SCA1 and SCA3. They are currently testing for the safety and tolerability of different doses of their drug VO659. VO659 is a type of therapy called an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO). ASOs target the mutated gene, to prevent it from producing the protein which ultimately causes the condition. In this case, VO659 targets the genes that causes SCA1, SCA3 and Huntington’s disease. The clinical trial is taking place in sites across Europe, and includes a UK site in London, at the London Ataxia Centre.
We look forward to sharing the results of the trial in SCA1 and SCA3, which share the same mutation in their disease causing genes as Huntington’s, known as a CAG repeat.
Read our previous article on the trial here.
