Spinogenix Inc, a California-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company announced on Sunday that it will present the results of two new preclinical studies demonstrating the neuroprotective effects of tazbentetol (SPG302) in glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy (DR) models at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) Annual Meeting this week.

This presentation builds on the peer-reviewed glaucoma research published recently in Experimental Eye Research.

The studies to be presented at ARVO evaluated the synaptic regenerative drug tazbentetol in two mouse models: an induced glaucoma model in which intraocular pressure (IOP) is experimentally elevated in mice by intraocular microbead (MB) injection, and a genetic (db/db) mouse model of type II diabetes. These models manifest retinal degeneration and synapse loss in ways that mirror the effects of glaucoma and DR in humans.

According to the company, mice in each study received daily tazbentetol (30mg/kg i.p.) or control treatment for eight weeks, during which elevations in IOP (MB mouse) and blood sugar (db/db mouse) were monitored to confirm disease. Mice treated with tazbentetol were found to keep retinal ganglion cells alive in both disease models – the neurons whose death ultimately causes blindness.

It added that beyond survival, the drug preserved synaptic connectivity in the retina, protected the optic nerve, and critically, translated these cellular gains into measurable improvements in visual function. In each model, tazbentetol reversed decreases in pERG amplitude (a reflection of RGC viability) and in the db/db mouse tazbentetol also shortened the latency of the pVEP (a reflection of improved RGC axon conduction). The latter effect may be attributable to both a preservation of axons and the fatty myelin sheath surrounding them that facilitates transmission.

Notably, these neuroprotective effects were observed despite ongoing disease drivers including sustained elevations in IOP in the glaucoma model and hyperglycaemia in the diabetic model. Altogether, the findings support the idea that tazbentetol may offer a novel neuroprotective strategy in major causes of blindness.