STOCKHOLM, SE / ACCESS Newswire / December 3, 2025 / AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ) (STO:ALZCUR)(FRA:AC6), a pharmaceutical company that develops candidate drugs for diseases affecting the nervous system, focusing on Alzheimer's disease and pain, announced today that the company has received the first payment of a grant of EUR 2.5 million from the European Innovation Council (EIC). The funding will enable a Phase IIa clinical study with the company's innovative drug candidate NeuroRestore ACD856 for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
The grant from the EIC Accelerator will help AlzeCure to conduct important clinical trials where NeuroRestore ACD856 will be tested in patients with Alzheimer's disease. ACD856 is being developed to improve patients' learning and memory function and affect the course of the disease in Alzheimer's disease. ACD856 is a so-called Trk-PAM, a new type of drug that enhances the brain's BDNF and NGF signaling. Impaired function in these signaling pathways is linked to impaired cognition in several different diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, sleep disorders, traumatic brain injury and Parkinson's disease.
Previous clinical studies have shown that the substance is safe, is effectively absorbed into the brain, and activates neuronal pathways important for both cognition and depression. Preclinical data also shows positive effects on neuronal communication, learning, memory, as well as neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory properties, including improved mitochondrial function.
"ACD856 has a unique mechanism of action and the potential to improve both learning and memory capacity as well as having disease-modifying properties. This is significant for patients with Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. The support from the EIC Accelerator is a validation and significant recognition of the project's potential and level of innovation. The grant enables the continued clinical studies and accelerates the development of this much-needed Alzheimer's treatment for patients", said Johan Sandin, Chief Scientific Officer at AlzeCure Pharma.
"We are very pleased to have received this grant from the EIC, which is a strong validation of our work and crucial for bringing this new treatment to patients. Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and affects approximately 55 million people globally, and the number of patients is expected to triple over the next 30 years. The disease poses a great burden on both patients, relatives and society, and there is currently a great need for new, effective treatments. With the grant from the EIC, AlzeCure Pharma takes an important step towards being able to offer a new treatment option for this serious disease", said Martin Jönsson, CEO of AlzeCure Pharma.
For more information, please contact
Martin Jönsson, CEO
Tel: +46 707 86 94 43
martin.jonsson@alzecurepharma.com
About AlzeCure Pharma AB (publ)
AlzeCure is a Swedish clinical stage biotech company that develops new innovative drug therapies for the treatment of severe diseases and conditions that affect the central nervous system, such as Alzheimer's disease and pain - indications for which currently available treatment is very limited. The company is listed on Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market and is developing several parallel drug candidates based on three research platforms: NeuroRestore, Alzstatin and Painless.
NeuroRestore consists of two symptomatic drug candidates where the unique mechanism of action allows for multiple indications, including Alzheimer's disease, as well as cognitive disorders associated with traumatic brain injury, sleep apnea and Parkinson's disease. NeuroRestore has received an EU grant from the European Innovation Council and is being prepared for phase 2. Alzstatin focuses on developing disease-modifying and preventive drug candidates for early treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Painless contains two projects: ACD440, which is a drug candidate for the treatment of neuropathic pain with positive phase 2 results and orphan drug designation from the FDA for the rare disease erythromelalgia, and TrkA-NAM, which targets severe pain in conditions such as osteoarthritis. AlzeCure aims to pursue its own projects through preclinical research and development through an early clinical phase, and is continually working on business development to find suitable outlicensing solutions with other pharmaceutical companies.
FNCA Sweden AB is the company's Certified Adviser. For more information, please visit www.alzecurepharma.se.
About NeuroRestore
NeuroRestore is a platform of symptom-relieving drug candidates for disease states in which cognitive ability is impaired, e.g. Alzheimer's Disease, sleep apnea, traumatic brain injury and Parkinson's disease. NeuroRestore stimulates several important signaling pathways in the brain, which among other things leads to improved cognition. Preclinical studies with NeuroRestore have shown that AlzeCure's drug candidates enhance communication between the nerve cells and improve cognitive ability. The NeuroRestore substances are so called Trk-PAMs which stimulate specific signaling pathways in the central nervous system known as neurotrophins, the most well-known being NGF (Nerve Growth Factor) and BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor). The levels of NGF and BDNF are disturbed in several disease states and the signaling is reduced. The impaired function impairs communication between the synapses, i.e. the contact surfaces of the nerve endings, as well as reducing the possibility of survival for the nerve cells, which gives rise to the cognitive impairments. Neurotrophins play a crucial role for the function of nerve cells, and a disturbed function of BDNF has a strong genetic link to impaired cognitive ability in several different diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury and sleep disorders. There is also a link between BDNF signaling and depression, something that has been further strengthened in recent years. In addition to cognitive-enhancing effects, new preclinical data also show that NeuroRestore substances have a positive effect on mitochondrial function and display neuroprotective as well as anti-inflammatory effects, which could indicate potential disease-modifying effects. The leading drug candidate in the platform, ACD856, has recently completed clinical phase I studies and demonstrated positive effects there that support continued development of the program and are being prepared for phase 2. Read more at: https://www.alzecurepharma.se/en/neurorestore/
About Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting approximately 55 million people worldwide, and the number is estimated to triple in the next 30 years if nothing is done. Alzheimer's disease is a lethal disorder that also has a large impact on both relatives and the society. Today, preventive and disease modifying treatments are missing. The main risk factors to develop Alzheimer's are age and genetic causes. Even though the disease can start as early as between 40 and 65 years of age, it is most common after 65 years. Significant investments in Alzheimer research are being made because of the significant unmet medical need and the large cost of this disease for healthcare and society. The total global costs for dementia related diseases are estimated to about 1,300 billion USD globally in 2019. Given the lack of both effective symptomatic treatments and disease modifying treatments, including preventive treatments, the need for new effective therapies is acute. The few approved drugs on the European market today have only a limited symptomatic effect and can produce dose limiting side effects. A disease modifying treatment for Alzheimer's disease is estimated to reach more than $15 billion in annual sales. In Sweden, approximately 100,000 people suffer from Alzheimer's disease with a healthcare cost of about SEK 63 billion yearly, which is more than for cancer and cardiovascular diseases combined.
Image Attachments
Martin Jönsson CEO And Johan Sandin CSO AlzeCure Pharma
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AlzeCure receives payment of EU grant for Phase 2 clinical trial with NeuroRestore ACD856 for Alzheimer's disease
SOURCE: AlzeCure Pharma
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