Discovery Development Programs

Discovery Development Programs

The in-house development programs at Bioasis are designed to develop effective treatments for patients suffering with neurological diseases. The goal of these programs is to produce symptomatic and disease-modifying treatments for brain-related diseases and disorders.

Bioasis is a science-driven company focused on neuroscience research. Our research advances the science of transporting medicine into the brain and creates a path to develop therapies for hundreds of central nervous system (CNS) diseases that were previously untreatable.

Our strategy is to do the right research at the right time and for the right reasons—a focus designed to deliver success. We will advance our clinical studies when we are certain we have achieved the appropriate outcome to inform a “go” or “no-go” decision based on the data generated through our carefully designed research programs.

Bioasis-supported research and development are the output from the exchange of ideas with preeminent researchers at leading academic institutions, our scientific advisory board and our biopharmaceutical collaborators. Research based on the xB3 platform has achieved success in the transport of dozens of compounds across the blood-brain barrier in both in-vitro and in-vivo studies. We have conducted research studies at more than 20 leading research institutions and biopharmaceutical companies. Data from these studies are available for review and discussion with our research experts and will form the foundation for new research programs.

xB3-001: Brain Metastases

Brain metastases are among the most common form of brain cancer in adults. For example, HER2-positive breast cancer has a high incidence of the cancer spreading from its primary site in the breast to the brain. The prognosis for these brain metastases is often fatal as the resulting brain tumors are largely untreatable because anti-cancer drugs cannot cross the blood-brain barrier at effective levels.

xB3-002: Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive cancers that originates within the brain, and 80 percent of diagnosed primary malignant brain tumors are malignant gliomas. Glioblastoma is considered the deadliest form of brain cancer due to its high infiltration of surrounding brain tissue. The standard treatment involves invasive surgical removal of tumors accompanied by subsequent radiation and chemotherapeutic treatments, which has remained unchanged for decades as most drugs are unable to cross the blood-brain barrier to act on the tumor.

Our proprietary xB3 platform technology offers the opportunity to turn non-brain-penetrating anti-cancer drugs into new entities that will be able to cross the blood-brain barrier, seek out cancer tumors in the brain and slow or stop their growth. Based on our success in rodent models, we are focused on taking our xB3-001 and xB3-002 programs forward by confirming biodistribution in non-human primate models, utilizing the recent advancement in PET imaging. Furthermore, we are moving forward to engage toxicity studies to enable us to find the right dose and safety level that will translate to humans.

xB3-007: Neurodegenerative Disease

Neurodegenerative disease affects millions of people worldwide with increasing prevalence caused, in part, by an aging population. Discovering and developing effective treatments for these diseases remains a critical global challenge.

Neurons are the building blocks of the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord. Neurodegeneration is the progressive loss of function by the neurons in the brain and peripheral nervous system, frequently leading to the death of these cells.

The risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s, is increasing at a dramatic rate as the world’s population continues to age. Researchers around the world are intensely searching for a cure or a way to significantly slow this progression.

We believe that the Bioasis xB3-007 program has the potential to turn non-brain-penetrating therapeutic drugs into CNS-targeting treatments capable of slowing down or preventing disease progression. It is our mission to develop treatments that may ultimately lead to a cure.

Utilizing the advancement in PET imaging, functional MRI (fMRI) and a non-human primate model, we seek to confirm the brain payload delivery capability of xB3. We are also applying research in neurochemistry and metabolism as we pursue a more realistic understanding through translational science.

Future Development Programs

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that affects nearly 44 million people worldwide. It is the only disease in the top 10 causes of death in the U.S. that cannot be prevented, slowed or cured. On an individual level the loss of near-term memory, and eventually of long-term memory, can rob a person of his or her quality of living and turn loved ones into strangers.

The human and economic costs associated with the disease represent one of medicine’s largest unmet needs with global expenditures estimated at over $600 billion annually. Billions of dollars have been invested in AD research, resulting in an advanced understanding of the disease and in the development of a wide range of promising treatment approaches and therapeutics. Unfortunately, almost all AD therapeutics are ultimately abandoned because they cannot cross the blood-brain barrier in sufficient quantities to be efficacious.

xB3 offers the potential to improve delivery of meaningful levels of existing or novel AD-targeted drugs across the blood-brain barrier and into the brain. Our hope is that Bioasis’ research will help physicians to slow the progression of AD and, someday, to offer a cure for the disease.