23 May 2013 - 23 May 2013 - US Omeros Corp (NASDAQ:OMER) said today that the US FDA has approved its application to assess OMS824, a phosphodiesterase 10 (PDE10) inhibitor, in Huntington's disease.

PDE10 is an enzyme expressed in areas of the brain linked to various diseases that affect cognition, including Huntington's disease and schizophrenia.

The company added that it intends to move OMS824 into Phase II studies for Huntington's disease next quarter and for schizophrenia later this year, the OMS824 Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for use in patients with schizophrenia having already been approved by the US drug regulator. Omeros said further that it has requested Orphan Drug status from the FDA for OMS824 in the treatment of Huntington's.

OMS824 has demonstrated encouraging results in animal models directly relevant to Huntington's disease and, as previously unveiled the compound was well tolerated and exhibited favourable pharmacokinetic properties in a Phase I clinical programme.