CervoMed Inc. CRVO

We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing treatments for age-related brain disorders. Our lead drug candidate, neflamapimod, is an investigational, orally administered small-molecule drug that readily crosses the blood brain barrier and selectively inhibits the enzyme p38α, a key driver of neuroinflammation and synaptic dysfunction. By targeting the critical disease processes underlying degenerative disorders of the brain, neflamapimod has the potential to reverse synaptic dysfunction, improve neuron health, and slow or prevent disease progression. Neflamapimod is currently in clinical development for the treatment of DLB, our lead indication, as well as nfvPPA, RAS, and ALS.

Our novel approach focuses on reducing the impact of neuroinflammation, which we believe is a key factor in the manifestation of degenerative diseases of the brain. Chronic activation of p38α in the brains of people with certain neurodegenerative diseases is believed to impair how neurons communicate through synapses. This synaptic dysfunction leads to deterioration of cognitive and motor abilities. Left untreated, synaptic dysfunction can result in irreversible neuronal loss that leads to devastating disabilities, significant reliance on a caretaker, long term care living, and, ultimately, death. However, before neuronal loss commences, disease progression in many major neurodegenerative disorders, including DLB, initially involves a protracted period of reversible functional loss, particularly with respect to the synapses. We believe that inhibiting p38α activity in the brain has the potential to reverse the clinical progression observed in the early stages of certain neurodegenerative diseases, as well as slow further progression by delaying permanent synaptic dysfunction and neuron death, by interfering with key pathogenic drivers of disease.