26 April 2019 - - US-based clinical stage biotechnology company Cavion, Inc will present the results of the Phase 2 study of its lead compound, CX-8998, for essential tremor in a platform presentation during the American Academy of Neurology 71st annual meeting, May 4 to May 10, 2019 in Philadelphia, PA, the company said.

Cavion is developing oral small molecules designed to selectively modulate T-type calcium channel activity in the central nervous system, acting as a biological "pacemaker" to help restore the brain's natural rhythms.

The company's lead candidate CX-8998 is a first-in-class T-type calcium channel modulator and is the most advanced late-stage small molecule currently in development for essential tremor.

CX-8998 was evaluated in the T-CALM Study, a Phase 2, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 95 patients with essential tremor conducted at 25 sites across the United States.

Patients were randomised to one of two treatment arms, receiving either placebo or CX-8998. A majority of subjects took study drug on top of certain standard of care anti-tremor medications.

Cavion is a privately held clinical stage biotechnology company creating therapies aimed at modulating the T-type calcium channel for the treatment of chronic and rare neurological diseases.

The company's portfolio of T-type calcium channel modulators is being developed to restore the brain's natural rhythms in a variety of neurological diseases such as essential tremor, Parkinson's disease tremor, neuropathic pain, and epilepsy with absence seizures.

About 10m Americans and 42 m people worldwide are affected by essential tremor, the most common movement disorder.

ET is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that ranges from mild to fully debilitating, with significant effects on people's quality of life and activities of daily living, such as eating and drinking, dressing, writing and typing.

The condition can lead to social embarrassment, phobia, anxiety, and depression.

With no new drugs approved for more than three decades, there is a need for new and effective options for patients with ET.