Logical Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products that treat diseases associated with inflammation.
The company is developing a novel platform of bio-activated prodrugs for the chronic treatment of arthritis. LT-NS001 is the first in this new class of bio-activated non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) prodrugs that has been engineered to reduce the GI safety risks associated with NSAIDs.
NSAIDs are the most common medications taken worldwide for the treatment of pain and inflammation. The use of NSAIDs is associated with serious side effects, the most frequent being an increased rate of gastric and duodenal ulcers. In the United States alone, the direct costs of treating ulcer complications associated with NSAID use exceed $4 billion a year. Despite the wide availability of so-called protective agents (PPIs) like Prilosec® , serious NSAID-induced gastrointestinal (GI) complications, such as hemorrhage and perforation, persist and are directly responsible for approximately 20,000 deaths per year in the United States. Meanwhile, the FDA continues to issue new warnings about the serious adverse risks of long-term use of PPIs, including increased risks of bone fracture, pneumonia and neurological impairment from hypomagnesemia. Older age and a need to take higher doses of NSAIDs on a regular basis are factors that magnify the risk of ulcers in patients taking NSAIDs. Patients need better alternatives that improve GI tolerability, reduce the risk of ulcers and do not increase the risk of cardiovascular events. LT-NS001 is being developed to fill this void.
NSAIDs as a class all work in a similar manner - they inhibit the activity of cyclooxygenase (COX) enzymes and thereby block the formation of prostaglandins (PGs). The induction of NSAID-induced GI ulcers is proposed to follow a 2-step process: direct NSAID exposure causing topical irritation followed by exacerbation of the deleterious effect by inhibition of PG synthesis.
LT-NS001 is unique among NSAIDs as it is the only NSAID that is pharmacologically inactive as a COX inhibitor in the GI tract, but once absorbed into the bloodstream, it is converted rapidly and quantitatively to naproxen.
Inside the GI tract, LT-NS001 is lipophilic and neutral (rather than hydrophilic and acidic as is naproxen); As a result, treatment of patients with LT-NS001 is associated with less GI toxicity including fewer gastric ulcers, than treatment with equivalent doses of naproxen.
Currently, NSAID-induced ulcers are treated by combining NSAID therapy with a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) or a histamine-2 receptor antagonist (H2). The chronic administration of PPI's has been associated with serious side effects such as interference with anti-platelet treatments, increased susceptibility to infections and increased risk of bone fracture. LT-NS001 utilizes a proprietary technology which has demonstrated improved GI safety without the need for concomitant alkalinizing agents and their associated risks. LT-NS001 is a single agent, non-substitutable NSAID with a unique, patented bio-activated technology.
LT-NS001 is an investigational drug product candidate undergoing clinical evaluation and has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
