Progressive neurodegenerative conditions — including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis — are among the leading causes of disability and premature death, and their global cost, already over $1.3 trillion a year, is projected to reach $2.8 trillion by 2050.

Despite decades of effort, very few medicines slow the underlying neurodegeneration. A likely reason is that most drugs act on a single biological pathway, whereas neurodegeneration is a complex, multi-mechanism process. Meaningful neuroprotection therefore calls for compounds that engage several pathophysiological processes at once.

Elixa has identified novel compounds with exactly this multimodal profile, giving them a strong prospect of becoming first-in-class, disease-modifying medicines — and a clear opportunity to improve the lives of people living with neurodegenerative disease, their families and society.

Elixa advances its lead candidates to the point of being ready for, or having completed, first-in-human studies, then partners with collaborators to complete development, secure regulatory approval and bring new neuroprotective medicines to market.

Development risk is reduced by starting from moieties with well-characterised safety profiles and developing proprietary versions and formulations optimised for CNS exposure. Overheads are kept low through a fully outsourced R&D model.

Elixa’s lead series is protected by UK Patent Application No. 2305212.9 (filed 6 April 2023) and a corresponding PCT application (filed 5 April 2024).

Digital Editor for CPHI Online, Lucy Chard, is joined by Alan Palmer of Elixa MediScience to talk about neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and everything that is encompassed under this terminology. Use this link to listen.