Alterity Therapeutics announced the first participant in Australia has been treated in the Company's Phase 2 clinical trial of ATH434 in Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), a rare and highly debilitating Parkinsonian disorder. The Phase 2 clinical trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of ATH434 in patients with early-stage MSA. The study will evaluate the effect of ATH434 treatment on neuroimaging and protein biomarkers to demonstrate target engagement and clinical endpoints to demonstrate efficacy, in addition to assessments of safety and pharmacokinetics.

The selected biomarkers, including brain iron and aggregating -synuclein, are important contributors to MSA pathology and are therefore appropriate targets to demonstrate drug activity. As an iron chaperone, it has excellent potential to treat Parkinson's disease as well as various Parkinsonian disorders such as Multiple System Atrophy (MSA). ATH434 successfully completed Phase 1 studies demonstrating the agent is well tolerated and achieved brain levels comparable to efficacious levels in animal models of MSA.

ATH434 is currently being studied in a randomized, double-blind., placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with early-stageMSA. ATH434 has been granted Orphan designation for the treatment of MSA by the U.S. FDA and the European Commission. About Multiple System Atrophy Multiple System Atrophy (mSA) is a rare, neurodegenerative disease characterized by failure of the autonomic nervous system and impaired movement.

The symptoms reflect the progressive loss of function and death of different types of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.