Treat the cause – not the symptoms. It’s an old phrase but Australian drug developer Nyrada (ASX: NYR) is proving this philosophy is the future of drug therapies. Nyrada develops small molecule drugs that treat the underlying causes of diseases that currently have few, if any effective therapies.

Between now and late 2022, Nyrada is focusing on preclinical programs for two drugs. One is a cholesterol lowering drug to treat cardiovascular disease. The other is a neuroprotective therapy that reduces secondary brain injury and long-term disability following a stroke or traumatic brain injury.

Cholesterol lowering program key facts:

• Access to a $19 billion market.
• Overcomes long-term challenges of existing cholesterol drugs, making them more convenient, affordable, and effective.
• Due to enter first human studies in late 2021.

Neuroprotective program key facts:

• There are 2.8 million traumatic brain injuries sustained in the US every year.
• Annually, 800,000 people suffer from a stroke in the US.
• Despite high mortality, severe disability and high ongoing healthcare costs, there are no effective drug therapies for trauma-induced brain injuries. The only treatments are physical rehab and neurology.
• There is only one class of drug for stroke patients and that only works for less than 15% of patients.
• In recent preclinical studies, Nyrada found their drug effectively blocks calcium ion build-up in cells, a key driver of secondary brain injury.

“These latest data are an exciting step forward for Nyrada. Having two potent drug candidates that act on distinctly different targets to limit toxic calcium ion build-up in brain cells is a huge achievement. It provides a solid scientific foundation and greatly de-risks the Brain Injury program. Nyrada is well positioned to become a leader in the field of brain injury drug development” says CEO James Bonnar.

Watch the video to hear more about Nyrada from CEO James Bonnar.

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Recorded on 24 June 2020 at 12pm.