Saniona AB (publ) announced successful preclinical in vivo validation for treatment of migraine in the Cephagenix joint venture program. Cephagenix is headed by Professor Jes Olesen, who in 2021 received the Lundbeck Foundation Brain Prize for his migraine research leading to new drug classes. The
drug candidates from the Cephagenix program are intended for acute migraine treatment with potential for preventive treatment in chronic migraine patients. Cephagenix has managed to produce highly selective inhibitors of the specific KATP channel subtype expressed in the intracranial arteries and first-generation compounds from this series has now shown efficacy in a relevant rodent migraine model. The drug candidates from the Cephagenix program are initially intended for acute migraine treatment with potential for preventive treatment in chronic migraine patients. Cephagenix's novel subtype-selective inhibitors of KATP channels were successfully developed using Saniona's Ionbase« technology platform. Most recently selected compounds from the series have demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo preclinical results validating the concept and initial tool compounds from the series.