Introduction
neurodegeneration, acute optic neuritis, death, worsening disability, optic nerve demyelination, autoimmune encephalomyelitis, multiple sclerosis, ganglion cell loss), glaucoma, disability
NEURODEGENERATION, AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS, OPTIC NERVE, RETINA, NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, AUTOIMMUNE ENCEPHALOMYELITIS, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, GLAUCOMA, DISEASES
Development of neuroprotective and remyelinating drugs is a high priority for central nervous system (CNS) diseases, including multiple sclerosis (MS)OCS-05 (previously known as BN201) is a neuroprotective and remyelinating drugCurrently OCS-05 has demonstrated neuroprotective properties by reducing the damage in the optic nerve and retina in in vivo models of acute optic neuritis (AON) such as lysolecithin-induced optic nerve demyelination, and in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model of MS. Moreover, OCS-05 showed activity in models of neurodegeneration such as the rat glaucoma model (by preventing retinal ganglion cell loss) and the in vitro model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (by rescuing motor neuron cells from death after nutritional stress), suggesting that the beneficial effects are mediated by neuroprotection and not immunomodulationOCS-05 is being developed as a neuroprotective treatment for decreasing CNS damage and disability in acute relapses of MS such as AON (i.e., as acute neuroprotection) as well as for the long-term treatment of MS to prevent worsening disability (chronic neuroprotection). The objective of this study was to assess the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of i.v. OCS-05 in healthy volunteers in order to enable clinical testing in patients with AON, MS, or other neurodegenerative diseases.