Pasithea Therapeutics Corp. announced that it has selected a lead therapeutic candidate for its PAS-003 program, a proprietary humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) that targets a5b1 integrin, a protein found to be overexpressed in both human and mouse subjects with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Scientists at Pasithea have performed extensive mAb screening and characterization to enable selection of a lead therapeutic candidate with optimal properties for the treatment of ALS.

This work included further validation of a5b1 integrin as a target in both familial (SOD1) and sporadic (TDP-43) ALS mouse models with reproducible improvements on behavior and survival. In July 2023, in conjunction with scientists at the Mayo Clinic and Oregon Health Sciences University, published a study in the renowned scientific peer-reviewed journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) describing an increase of a5b1 integrins expression with disease progression in both mouse models of ALS and in human postmortem tissue samples of ALS patients. Additionally, this publication highlights the role of a5b1 integin on different cell types involved in neuroinflammation in ALS and has shown that blocking a5b1 integrin is a therapeutic target for the treatment of ALS.