Can you provide an overview of TauRx Therapeutics?

TauRx is dedicated to research in neurodegenerative diseases and is a leader in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research. Our mission is to discover, develop and commercialise innovative products for the diagnosis, treatment and cure of neurodegenerative diseases caused through protein aggregation. TauRx’s therapeutic focus is on the tau aggregation pathology, which correlates with the clinical decline (loss of memory and ability to care for oneself) commonly seen in people with Alzheimer’s, establishing it as an important target for treatment. AD is a global problem – it’s a disease that will affect the majority of people in some way at some point – and our priority is to help the millions of patients with AD and their families with the development of a safe and effective treatment that they will be able to access.

Please tell us about TauRx drugs in pipeline with relation to Alzheimer’s disease.

Our lead compound, hydromethylthionine mesylate (HMTM), inhibits aggregation of tau by changing the conformation of the tau protein. It has shown promise in several Phase 3 clinical trials for slowing disease progression in Alzheimer’s disease and in behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia. It is also the first investigational treatment targeting tau in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which could potentially transform the lives of millions of people globally. 

Can you describe the latest trends and challenges in Alzheimer’s research?

There are many challenges in treating AD that research is trying to address, including higher-risk safety profiles and cost barriers. TauRx is working to address those challenges with HMTM, which has been shown consistently to have a favourable safety profile with no treatment-related serious adverse events reported for patients in our study. Further, HMTM is an oral treatment that could provide a readily accessible and convenient treatment option for patients with AD and MCI due to AD.

Ayesha Siddiqui