BioChromix Pharma AB

The Challenge

There are no cures for Alzheimer's disease (AD) at present. Nor are there any pharmaceutical therapies that modify the development of the disease. Approved drugs, such as cholinesterase inhibitors and the NMDA receptor antagonist memantine, only provide short-term symptomatic relief. Currently, there are no therapies that target the basic pathology of the disease, i.e. the formation of neurotoxic amyloid ß-peptide (Aß) aggregates and neurofibrillary tangles, which are the prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve cells. More than 30 million people suffer from AD today.  The disease also affects the lives of other people in the patient’s family leading to a growing public health challenge with increased costs for individuals and society.

BioChromix Pharma's Solution

BioChromix Pharma has discovered a novel class of conjugated heterocyclic compounds representing a unique therapeutic approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. The BioChromix Pharma compounds that are under development have been shown to reduce plaque load and neurotoxic Aß aggregates significantly, as demonstrated in an in vivo model of Alzheimer's disease.

The class of compounds produced by BioChromix Pharma shows good potential to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and thereby reach sufficiently high concentrations in the brain to achieve desirable effect. The company is continuing to develop, optimize and validate lead compounds both in vitro and in vivo.

Competitive Advantages

The company's lead compounds cross the BBB and quickly reach effective concentrations in the brain. They are also believed to operate in a large window of the Aß cascade. In comparison, antibodies and many other compounds are normally only active in a narrow window. In addition, antibodies and many small molecule drugs do not easily cross the BBB. The company's lead compounds offer potential selectivity and affinity improvements over currently available therapies by several orders of magnitude.

The Market

Direct care cost for the more than 30 million patients suffering from Alzheimer's related dementia worldwide is estimated to be around USD 156bn per annum.. Across the seven major pharmaceutical markets, the AD market is forecast to grow from USD 5bn in 2010 to USD 12bn in 2019¹.