Herantis Pharma Plc announced that the dosing of the healthy volunteers in part 2 of the Phase 1a clinical study has been started based on decision from the Data and Safety Monitoring Board. Top-line data of the Phase 1a clinical trial is expected in fourth quarter 2023. Phase 1a is a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic study of subcutaneous single ascending doses of HER-096.

In part 1 of the study, HER-096 or placebo was administered to young healthy volunteers and in the now started part 2 of the study, 12-16 elderly healthy volunteers, both males and females, will be administered with a single dose of HER-096 to evaluate the blood-brain-barrier penetration of HER-096. in total, the study aims to recruit around 60 healthy volunteer subjects. The study takes place in Turku, Finland conducted by the contract research organization CRST.

HER-096 is a peptidomimetic molecule designed to retain the biological activity of the neuroprotective CDNF protein. HER-096 has demonstrated to have a multimodal mechanism of action mimicking CDNF and to improve functional recovery of damaged neurons in preclinical models. Thanks to its multimodal mechanism of action, Herantis' HER-096 has the potential to stop the progression of Parkinson's disease and significantly improve patients' quality of life.