anti-edema therapy for patients affected by
disabling and life-threatening severe ischemic stroke
aeromics vision
Water is essential to life, but can also be life threatening.
Based on the Nobel-prize winning science, Aeromics is exploiting a revolutionary understanding of water physiology to develop first in class therapeutics.
By targeting molecular water channels to control edema, patient outcomes could be greatly improved in indications such as stroke, spinal cord injury, CNS surgery and brain cancer.
Aeromics at a Glance
Aeromics, Inc. is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing an intravenously administered aquaporin-4 (AQP4) inhibitor (AER-271) for severe, acute ischemic stroke that will prevent or arrest brain swelling (cerebral edema) following an ischemic event.
By preventing brain swelling AER-271 will significantly improve survival following an ischemic brain event, lead to better outcomes and more complete and faster recovery and reduce the need for more invasive treatments such as decompressive craniectomy.
Aeromics is currently investigating the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of AER-271 in a Phase 1 clinical trial.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT TARGET TO BLOCK THE HARMFUL EFFECTS EDEMA
Aquaporins are water channels that facilitate the movement of water across cell membranes. In 2003, Dr. Peter Agre was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their discovery.
Multiple diseases are complicated by the accumulation of excess fluid in body tissue, due the imbalanced movement of water through the Aquaporins channels. This swelling (or edema) can have deleterious and sometimes life-threatening consequences.
In the brain, cerebral edema is responsible for much of the damage in stroke, causing significant morbidity and mortality.
COMPANY FORMATION AND FOCUS
Working with Aquaporins at Yale School of Medicine, Drs. Pelletier and Boron saw a path for the creation of a drug with unprecedented potential to prevent edema.
In 2008, with this new understanding of water physiology, they founded Aeromics with the mission of one day controlling edema.
Supported in part by the Connecticut Innovations, Broadview Ventures and National Institutes of Health/National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Aeromics has developed the first aquaporin inhibitor to enter clinical trials.
For its initial drug target Aeromics chose Aquaporin-4, which is situated at the blood brain barrier and the primary route by which water enters the brain. If successful with an Aquaporin-4 inhibitor, Aeromics will have medicine's first therapy to prevent brain swelling during an ischemic stroke -- the most common type of stroke.
Nearing a long-sought medical need in NEUROLOGY
Using traditional drug discovery and development techniques and with a continuous progression in both safety and potency, hundreds of thousands of compounds were tested and several candidates advanced. From these studies arose AER-271, the first clinical candidate targeting an aquaporin (IND filed with the FDA in December 2017).
AER-271 is currently under investigation in a Phase I safety trial. Aeromics is also in the process of staging a Phase II efficacy trial expected to begin in Q3 of 2019. This human proof-of-concept study will evaluate AER-271 for the prevention of cerebral edema in severe, acute ischemic stroke with Large Hemispheric Infarction (LHI) where medically significant swelling can be reliably predicted. Our Expanded Access Policy can be found here.
If successful, one of the largest unmet medical needs will be addressed through the control of water physiology and aquaporins will be established as important new clinical targets.
