CytRx Corp. (Nasdaq: CYTR) today announced Shi Chung Ng, Ph.D., the biopharmaceutical company’s senior vice president of research and development, will present results of its recent studies at the Sixth International Workshop on the Molecular Biology of Stress Responses at the Chulabhorn Research Institute in Bangkok, Thailand.
CytRx is engaged in the development and commercialization of human therapeutics through animal testing. It recently conducted studies surrounding animal stroke and the company’s lead molecular chaperone amplification drug candidate arimoclomol, which Dr. Ng will present at the upcoming workshop.
In the press release, Dr. Ng said most previous-generation stroke drug candidates were designed to prevent brain cells from dying in the acute stage of a stroke by re-establishing blood flow or protecting cells from the lack of oxygen. The studies of arimoclomol differ, showing that the brain cells aren’t prevented from dying, but are repaired.
“The results of our studies presented at this meeting suggest that arimoclomol improves recovery from stroke not by decreasing the number of brain cells that die, but by repairing the brain cells that survived but that were otherwise too injured to function normally,” Dr. Ng stated. “This may explain why arimoclomol demonstrated statistically significant improvement in recovery even when the drug was administered well after the event. We are pleased to share the results of our study at this important workshop that attracts scientific thought-leaders from around the world.”
In the presentation, Dr. Ng will discuss the positive effects arimoclomol had on rats immediately after a stroke was induced. Rats treated with the drug recovered more quickly, and the recovery was not contingent on the time the drug was orally administered. The studies are aimed at reducing the damaging effects of strokes in humans.
CytRx’s Chief Scientific Officer Jack Barber, Ph.D, stated, “The results from these rat studies with arimoclomol in stroke recovery are sufficiently compelling that we are working toward entering a Phase II clinical trial in stroke recovery in the second half of this year, subject to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance.”
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