N30 Pharmaceuticals in Boulder, Colorado, announced today approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin a phase I clinical trial of a drug called N6022, that the company says has the potential to be a treatment for acute exacerbations of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and inflammatory bowel disease.
The trial, involving a small sample of healthy human patients, will assess the safety profile, tolerability, and human-body reactions of single intravenous doses of N6022. According to N30 Pharmaceuticals, N6022 is an inhibitor of s-nitrosoglutathione reductase (GSNOR), which breaks down and reduces the body’s pool of s-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO).
In the lung, GSNO is believed to help maintain normal respiratory functions and reduce inflammation. Likewise in the gut, GSNO helps maintain the integrity of the organ’s surface. Decreased GSNO levels have been shown to contribute to respiratory disease, and genetic variants of GSNOR have been correlated with disease susceptibility and poor response to therapy.
N30 Pharmaceuticals notes that this is the first trial of N6022 in human subjects. The company says it has several compounds that act as inhibitors of GSNOR in its development pipeline.