Davunetide: a review of safety and efficacy data with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases.

Abstract

Davunetide is the first neuroprotective peptide in its class, and has preclinical evidence for neuroprotective, neurotrophic and cognitive protective properties. Davunetide has also been shown to prevent apoptosis or programmed-cell death in a range of in vitro and in vivo models by promoting microtubule stabilization. Potential clinical uses of davunetide include neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) or cognitive impairment in other diseases such as schizophrenia where microtubule structure and function is known to be impaired. The nonclinical and clinical safety of davunetide is reviewed here in detail. Pre-clinical toxicology studies in rats and dogs using the maximum feasible dose of davunetide provide strong evidence that davunetide is well-tolerated. Similarly, data from 10 separate clinical trials of davunetide, investigating safety and efficacy provide evidence that davunetide is generally safe and well-tolerated, and has shown some signs of clinical efficacy.

• Authors: Bruce H Morimoto, Anthony W Fox, Alistair J Stewart, Michael Gold
• Journal: Expert review of clinical pharmacology (Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol) Vol. 6 Issue 5 Pg. 483-502 (Sep 2013) ISSN: 1751-2441 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 23971871 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Neuroprotective Agents
• Oligopeptides
• davunetide

Topics

• Animals
• Apoptosis (drug effects)
• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
• Humans
• Microtubules (drug effects)
• Neurodegenerative Diseases (drug therapy, pathology)
• Neuroprotective Agents (administration & dosage, adverse effects, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use)
• Oligopeptides (administration & dosage, adverse effects, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic use)
• Toxicity Tests
• Treatment Outcome