Proniras Corporation

Proniras is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development of drugs for neurological conditions with high unmet medical need. The Company’s lead program is tezampanel, a novel AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist which antagonizes glutamate signaling in the central nervous system (CNS). Glutamate is the predominant excitatory neurotransmitter in the CNS and, in the context of opiate abuse, plays a pivotal role in withdrawal symptoms. Upon abrupt cessation of opioid use, a glutamate-driven over-agitation of the nervous system develops and leads to excruciating physical and psychological symptoms in withdrawal. The avoidance of withdrawal symptoms is largely what keeps epidemic proportions of society locked into a pattern of addiction and prevents escape to sobriety. Tezampanel may also hold promise for the treatment of other specialty neurological conditions, including status epilepticus, pediatric epilepsy, neonatal abstinence syndrome or other circumstances where excitatory derangement of the CNS develops as a result of withdrawal from chronic alcohol abuse, toxic exposure to organophosphate pesticides or as a medical countermeasure to nerve agents. Proniras was founded in 2017 by Accelerator Life Science Partners and Christopher Toombs, PhD, DABT. The company is located in Seattle, WA.