5 March 2018 - - Lexington, Massachusetts-based clinical stage biopharmaceutical company Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNCE) has selected CTP-692, a novel drug for adjunctive treatment of schizophrenia, as the next development candidate in its product pipeline, the company said.
CTP-692 is a deuterated form of D-serine, an endogenous, required co-agonist of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NDMA) receptor.
NMDA receptor hypofunction is believed to contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and enhancement of D-serine levels is believed to benefit individuals with schizophrenia.
CTP-692 is being developed as a potential adjunctive therapy to antipsychotic medicines with the potential to improve positive and negative symptoms as well as cognitive function in these patients.
CTP-692 has the potential to improve the safety profile of D-serine. In preclinical evaluation, Concert found that selective deuterium modification increased D-serine exposure and substantially reduced evidence of renal impairment.
Concert Pharmaceuticals focuses on applying its deuterated chemical entity (DCE) platform to create novel medicines designed to address unmet patient needs.
The company's approach starts with approved drugs in which deuterium substitution has the potential to enhance clinical safety, tolerability or efficacy. Concert has a broad pipeline of innovative medicines targeting autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and central nervous systems disorders.