“We are excited about the Phase Ib Signal Finding Study of our drug candidate, IRL757, in Parkinson’s patients experiencing apathy. This condition causes significant disability for many individuals living with Parkinson's disease. Currently, there is a substantial medical need for an effective treatment of apathy which lacks treatment options. With strong scientific and financial backing from our collaborator MSRD, we have developed this first-in-class drug candidate very efficiently,” says Kristina Torfgård, CEO of IRLAB.

The study, which will include 75 patients with Parkinson’s disease who experience apathy, will be conducted at study sites in Germany, Bulgaria, Poland, and Spain.
Two previous Phase I studies, one in healthy young adults and one in healthy older adults aged 65 and above, both showed that IRL757 was well absorbed and provided good systemic exposure after 10 days of dosing. All participants completed both studies, and no serious adverse events were recorded.

Apathy is characterized by indifference, resignation, and a lack of response to what is happening in the outside world. The condition often leads to significant disability affecting a substantial proportion of people living with Parkinson's disease, and with other neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, there are no drugs on the market to treat apathy.

IRLAB and MSRD, a member of the global Otsuka group of companies, formed a collaboration in May 2024 to advance IRL757 through proof-of-concept trials as a potential treatment for apathy.

IRLAB's drug candidate IRL757 has shown positive effects in several preclinical models of cognitive function, including improved motivation. This effect is believed to be associated with the drug candidate's ability to counteract disturbances in central nervous system nerve signalling proposed to underly apathy in several neurological conditions.