Spotlight Innovation, Indiana University to Jointly Research, Develop New SMA Therapies
Spotlight Innovation has entered into a sponsored research agreement with Indiana University to develop safe and effective therapeutic options for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy. The partnership will seek to continue development of STL-182, the company’s lead product candidate for treating SMA. STL-182 is an orally-available small molecule that has been shown to have potential therapeutic effect in the treatment of SMA. Spotlight has previously reported that STL-182 has shown the potential in SMA mouse models to restore neuromuscular function by stabilizing such SMN protein levels. Dr. Elliot Androphy, inventor of the therapy, is also the chair of the Department of Dermatology of Indiana University School of Medicine. At Indiana, Androphy has used a novel, cell-based high throughput screen for compounds that increase SMN protein levels – work that has led to the identification of pre-clinical drug candidates for SMA.