"Does anyone know if NNZ-2591 is from Prof Brimble’s work?" The...

"Does anyone know if NNZ-2591 is from Prof Brimble’s work?"

The Neuren Story is told by Professor Brimble in an article published in Chemistry in New Zealand in July 2011, titled Development of NNZ-2566 as a Drug Candidate for Traumatic Brain Injury.

Did Brimble make NNZ-2591? The answer is Yes. Brimble appears to believe that beyond NNZ-2566, her laboratory has been able to produce 'better' compounds.

"We also went on to develop two new classes of compounds for Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd. called diketopiperazines (DKPs) and macrocyclics that have been rationally designed as candidates for both acute and chronic neurological conditions."

NNZ-2591 is a novel diketopiperazine. There is discussion about NNZ-2566 and NNZ-2591 as being similar and they are in fact from the same class of peptides. Specifically, NNZ-2591 is a dipeptide related to IGF-1 and to NNZ-2566.

They are also different: NNZ-2566 is a GPE analogue while NNZ-2591 is a bicyclic analogue refer investor presentation 4 September 2014. Personally, I do not understand the point of difference. What does appear to be apparent, however, from the Brimble video and article, is that NNZ-2591 has been tweaked for application in acute and chronic neurological conditions.

Firstly, Neuren has to get NNZ-2566 over the line. It is reassuring, however, given the insiders story outlined by Brimble, that NNZ-2591 is not only in the pipeline but already heading towards IND application.

"Whilst Neuren's near term focus remains the current Phase 2 clinical trials of NNZ-2566 in four different applications, the attractive pharmaceutical properties and pre-clinical efficacy of NNZ-2591 make a compelling proposition to advance its development behind NNZ-2566," said Richard Treagus, 12 August 2014.

Beyond NNZ-2566 may indeed be a drug candidate which holds even greater promise for the treatment of chronic neurological conditions like Parkinson's disease and MS. Hats off to Brimble, Harris and the NZ team.