Acetylon and its scientific advisors are exploring the potential for selective inhibition of Class II HDACsfor the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.  For example, the inhibition of HDAC4 has been demonstrated to have potential for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or “Lou Gehrig’s disease”).

Acetylon is also pursuing development of selective HDAC inhibitors for other disease indications including parasitic diseases such as malaria and major genetic diseases such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia major (beta-thalassemia).  Acetylon has successfully demonstrated the potent inhibition of the life cycle of the most common severe form of malaria (plasmodium falciparum) in human blood cells without appreciable toxicity to white blood cells (unpublished data).