ALZPROTECT, a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the development of drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, today announced that PAREXEL Biotech, a new division of PAREXEL International Corporation, has been selected to perform the clinical phase 2a development of AZP2006 for the treatment of PSP, a rare degenerative disease of the brain. PAREXEL Biotech will fulfill AlzProtect’s needs related to the completion of their Phase 2a clinical study from protocol writing to the coordination of patient recruitment.

"It was important for us to work with an internationally renowned partner covering the full range of needs for our first phase 2a clinical trial," said Philippe Verwaerde, president and scientific director of AlzProtect.

"AlzProtect is committed to achieving Phase 2a results in complete confidence. With PAREXEL Biotech, we now have access to the expertise necessary to achieve this goal," said Laurent Dupire COO of AlzProtect.

"PAREXEL’S recently launched Biotech unit delivers innovative, customized offerings to the biotech community, building on our more than 20 years of experience in this area," said Jim Anthony, Global Head of Biotech, PAREXEL. "Our collaboration with AlzProtect is a great example of how we can work together in a unique way, and we look forward to helping advance this important rare disease initiative."

About AlzProtect
Founded in 2007, AlzProtect is a French Lille-based company created by Dr. André Delacourte, one of the pioneers of research on Alzheimer's disease, and Dr. Patricia Melnyk, expert in medicinal chemistry, in collaboration with Lille 2 University. and INSERM. The company employs 8 people and is supported by BPI France, the National Research Agency and Eurasanté. AlzProtect is committed to the development of innovative therapeutic solutions in the field of neurodegenerative diseases.

About AZP2006
AlzProtect is developing a drug candidate, AZP2006, whose mode of action and effects are clearly different from products developed in the last 15 years by the pharmaceutical industry. The flagship product of AlzProtect, AZP2006, has an innovative mechanism of action: it is a bioavailable neurotrophic inducer. Unlike most products developed by the competition, AZP2006 targets all causes of neurodegeneration and is not only targeted at markers such as Abeta protein or Tau protein. AZP2006 has obtained the status of "orphan drug" in Europe (European Medicines Agency) and in the United States (Food and Drug Administration) in the indication of PSP. It has been tested in humans, 88 healthy subjects, in two phase I clinical trials and has demonstrated excellent tolerability, with no adverse effects.

About neurodegenerative diseases
With its compound AZP2006, AlzProtect mainly targets two neurodegenerative diseases: progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and Alzheimer's disease.

PSP is a tauopathy with predominant accumulation of Tau isoforms with four repeat motifs (4R). It is characterized by neurofibrillary degeneration and neuronal loss in the brainstem, basal ganglia, frontal motor and associative cortex. The disease causes brainstem damage that progressively affects balance, vision, mobility, swallowing and speech. The number of PSP cases in Europe and the United States is estimated at 30,000 and 25,000, respectively. The life expectancy in the patient with PSP is estimated between 5 and 7 years. There is no treatment, to date, to stop or slow down the disease.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia with an estimated 47 million patients worldwide in 2017, a figure that should increase to 75 million by 2030 or even 132 million by 2050 , according to the 2017 World Alzheimer Report. The pharmacological targets are Abeta protein, Tau protein and neuroinflammation. There is currently no reliable early diagnosis or treatment that can change the course of this disease: it is a major public health issue.

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