Skyhawk Therapeutics, Inc. has announced positive results from the first interim analysis of the Part C patient cohort in its Phase 1 clinical trial of SKY-0515, an investigational treatment for Huntington’s disease (HD). At Day 84, patients receiving SKY-0515 demonstrate dose-dependent reductions of mHTT protein in blood including 62% at the 9mg dose. SKY-0515 has been generally well tolerated at both dose levels tested.
Treatment with SKY-0515 also results in important dose-dependent PMS1 mRNA reduction and demonstrates excellent central nervous system penetration. The overall safety profile has been favorable, supporting the continued clinical development of the programme.
“SKY-0515 is reducing mHTT protein to the most impressive extent we’ve seen so far in patients, and crucially the clinical and biomarker data show no safety concerns so far at any dose tested,” said Ed Wild, professor of Neurology at University College London.
“It is great that we are seeing substantial PMS1 reduction as well, which should be a potent combination for treating Huntington’s disease via two of its core pathogenic mechanisms. This is what success looks like at the 3-month timepoint, setting the stage for meaningful impact for people living with HD across the world – for whom an orally administered huntingtin-lowering treatment such as SKY-0515 would be truly transformative.”
“The strength of SKY-0515’s biomarker response after just 84 days of treatment underscores its potential as a transformative therapy for HD,” said Sergey Paushkin, head of R&D at Skyhawk Therapeutics.
“These interim data represent an important milestone for SKY-0515 and highlight the power of Skyhawk’s platform to deliver first-in-class small molecules for devastating diseases with no approved disease-modifying therapies.”
Huntington’s disease is a rare, hereditary, and ultimately fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects over 40,000 symptomatic patients in the United States, with hundreds of thousands estimated to be affected worldwide. There are currently no approved treatments which slow or halt disease progression. SKY-0515 is Skyhawk’s orally-administered, investigational small molecule RNA splicing modifier developed through the company’s novel RNA-splicing platform, SKYSTAR. SKY-0515 is designed to reduce both HTT protein and PMS1 protein, an additional key driver of somatic CAG repeat expansion and HD pathology.
SKY-0515 was developed through Skyhawk’s proprietary integrated platform, SKYSTAR®, and is the first Skyhawk drug in clinical trials.
Skyhawk expects to put a series of additional novel drugs to treat rare neurological diseases with no presently approved disease modifying therapies in the clinic by the end of 2027. The first is on track to initiate trials in mid-2026.
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