Dong-A Socio Holdings’ pharmaceutical affiliate Dong-A ST announced on the 15th that it presented preclinical study results for its Alzheimer’s disease drug candidates “DA-7505” and “DA-7503” at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) held in London, United Kingdom.

AAIC is an international conference for sharing research outcomes in the fields of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. The studies were conducted at the preclinical stage using cells and animal models, not in human clinical trials.

DA-7505 is a candidate that acts by reducing damage to neurons. It enhances the activity of the enzyme GPX4, which plays an antioxidant role within neurons, thereby inhibiting “ferroptosis,” a form of cell death caused by iron- and lipid-induced oxidation.

According to the study results, DA-7505 reduced lipid oxidation and cell death in neurons and demonstrated cognitive function improvement in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model. It also showed an effect in reducing neuroinflammation.

Based on this mechanism, Dong-A ST explained that DA-7505 has potential applications not only for Alzheimer’s disease but also for other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease.

DA-7503 is a candidate that inhibits the aggregation of tau protein, which abnormally accumulates in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Normally, tau protein helps maintain the structure of neurons, but in Alzheimer’s disease it undergoes abnormal changes and clumps together, damaging neurons.

When DA-7503 was administered to a tauopathy mouse model, both cognitive and motor functions improved, and in brain tissue the aggregation and accumulation of tau protein were reduced. When co-administered with lecanemab, an existing Alzheimer’s treatment, pathological markers related to tau and amyloid beta showed additional improvement.

Lecanemab is an antibody therapy that removes amyloid beta protein accumulated in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease and slows the rate of cognitive decline. Dong-A ST stated that it has confirmed the potential for combination therapy of lecanemab, which targets amyloid beta, with DA-7503, which targets tau protein.

However, the company noted that these results were obtained in animal models, and whether the same efficacy and safety will be observed in actual patients must be verified through future clinical trials. DA-7503 is currently in Phase 1 clinical trials, while DA-7505 remains in the preclinical development stage.

A Dong-A ST official said, “Through this research, the therapeutic potential of the two candidates for Alzheimer’s disease has been confirmed,” adding, “The company will continue to develop therapies that target different disease mechanisms.”

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