Gaithersburg-based Neuroene Therapeutics and its approach to treating a rare form of epilepsy were crowned the winner of the seventh annual Crab Trap Competition, which highlights the commercialization potential of biohealth technologies throughout the BioHealth Capital Region.
The company was largely recognized for its lead asset, NT102, a Vitamin K analog demonstrating broad seizure protection in preclinical animal models. In particular, the asset showed protection against seizures in Dravet syndrome, a rare genetic disease marked by severe encephalopathy and epilepsy that doesn’t respond well to current medications.
Last year the FDA awarded Orphan Drug designation to NT102, a designation granted to certain medications that are being developed to treat diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 patients in the U.S. And just a few months ago Neuroene became a JLABS resident.
NT102 has the potential for broad applications beyond Dravet syndrome. Sherine Chan, a co-founder of Neuroene, noted that about one-third of epilepsy patients being treated for their condition still do not have adequate control of their seizures. With its unique mechanism of action, Chan said the company envisions NT102 as both an adjuvant treatment to some existing epilepsy medications as well as a medical countermeasure for nerve agent exposures that cause seizures.