Benzinga | Jan 19, 2021 08:38AM EST

Aptinyx Highlights Publication Of Review Article Highlighting Preclinical Data In Medicine In Drug Discovery Demonstrating Potential Of NYX-2925 To Treat Chronic, Centralized Pain Conditions

NYX-2925 is currently under evaluation in two Phase 2b studies of chronic pain: one in patients with fibromyalgia and a second in patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy

Aptinyx Inc. (NASDAQ:APTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing transformative therapies for the treatment of brain and nervous system disorders, today announced the publication of a recent review article in Medicine in Drug Discovery featuring data on its novel NMDA receptor modulator, NYX-2925. The data span across numerous preclinical models and highlight the potential therapeutic benefits of NYX-2925 in treating chronic, centralized pain conditions.

"This article in Medicine in Drug Discovery showcases our methodical approach to CNS drug development and also highlights the important role NYX-2925 could play in treating centralized chronic pain," said Norbert Riedel, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Aptinyx. "We have thoroughly characterized the effects of NYX-2925 across numerous preclinical pain models and have seen robust, consistent, and reproducible activity that suggests a differentiated safety and efficacy profile. As we have now advanced NYX-2925 through two Phase 2 studies and observed clear signals of activity on several biomarkers as well as patient-reported measures, these foundational preclinical data continue to be important to our understanding of the unique mechanism of NMDA receptor modulation and its role in addressing aberrant central pain processing. Given all of the compelling evidence we have gathered to date with NYX-2925, we are eager to complete the two ongoing Phase 2b studies in the first half of 2022 and to move closer to our goal of bringing NYX-2925 to patients in need of better therapeutic options."

The review describes the role of central (brain) changes that occur as pain is experienced chronically. These changes can lead to a maladaptive state that creates a lifelong pain sensation despite the absence of painful peripheral (sensory) stimuli. Disruptions in NMDA receptor activity and expression have been implicated in chronic pain states and this review presents preclinical data from a variety of preclinical pain models describing the analgesic effects exhibited by the novel NMDA receptor modulation of NYX-2925.