A spinout from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill but subsequently dissolved in 2014, NeuroGate had developed novel, patentable compounds for the treatment of neuropathic pain and epilepsy. The compounds, developed in the laboratory of Harold Kohn (the inventor of lacosamide), were designed using known and clinically proven pharmacophores. The compounds being highly potent and haveing a novel combination of actions on sodium channels that prevent neuronal hyperexcitability - the hallmark of signaling in neuropathic pain and during seizures - the lead indication for NeuroGateâs compounds is neuropathic pain. With, at the time, only six approved drugs indicated for treatment of various conditions of neuropathic pain, all available agents were only marginally effective, with less than half of treated patients reporting a moderate (50% or better) reduction in pain. Additionally, the then existing systemic neuropathic pain drugs had significant dose-limiting side effects NeuroGate developed a series of small molecule compounds termed Extended NeuroAmides (ENAs) that effectively inhibit hyperexcitable neurons. The lead compounds for neuropathic pain enhance both slow and fast inactivation of sodium channels and show pronounced use (frequency)-dependence, a combination of activities not shared by any other approved drug for neuropathic pain. Because all of these actions specifically control hyperexcitability (the hallmark of neuropathic pain signaling and seizures), effects on normal neuronal signaling are minimal. Furthermore, compounds under development have demonstrated activity at Nav1.7, a sodium channel isoform critically involved in pain signaling. NeuroGateâs lead compounds show potent effects in animal models and have good pharmacokinetic and drug-like properties. A lead compound for neuropathic pain, NGT-110, has been selected and is advancing towards IND-enabling studies. Six patents filed that cover composition of matter and therapeutic use of NeuroGateâs chemical est
