Acorda's drug treats nerve damage-related ED in preclinical test

Acorda Therapeutics' new neuregulin drug helped treat erectile dysfunction in rats with nerve damage, according to preclinical data the company presented at a recent conference. The ultimate goal would be to use the compound to benefit patients dealing with ED caused by cavernous nerve injury, which can commonly, and inadvertently, result from prostate surgery.

As the company explains, neuregulin drugs are a class of protein growth factors that occur naturally and affect the nervous and cardiovascular systems in multiple ways. For the preclinical trial, researchers used a drug from this class dubbed GGF2, or glial growth factor 2.

While it may be some time before the drug is tested in human trials, Acorda envisions a major market for the compound. The company estimates that more than 270,000 men face prostate surgeries each year, most of which are used to treat prostate cancer and prostate enlargement. The stakes are also high, as Acorda Chief Scientific Officer Andrew Blight notes: There isn't a drug on the market that can prevent or successfully treat cavernous nerve damage-related erectile dysfunction. Acorda said GGF2 may also be useful for other peripheral nerve injuries, based on promising data that showed the drug appeared to trigger "neuroprotection or stimulation of nerve regeneration."

For the study, researchers looked at erectile functions in two groups of rats without cavernous nerve damage and three groups with cavernous nerve damage. The drug showed viable improvement and help generate new nerve fibers 5 weeks after injury, the researchers said.

Acorda presented the data (including research from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) at the ISSM/SMSNA World Meeting on Sexual Medicine in Chicago.

- read the release

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