ASPX Profile
Auspex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ASPX) was a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel medicines for patients with movement disorders and other neurological conditions. The company's lead product candidate was SD-809, a small molecule inhibitor of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2), which was in development for the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington's disease.
VMAT2 is a protein that transports dopamine and other neurotransmitters into synaptic vesicles in the brain. Inhibiting VMAT2 has been shown to reduce the release of dopamine and other neurotransmitters, which can improve symptoms of movement disorders such as chorea, a characteristic feature of Huntington's disease.
Auspex was founded in 2003 and was headquartered in La Jolla, California. The company's pipeline included other VMAT2 inhibitors, as well as compounds targeting other neurological targets, including sigma-1 receptors and N-type calcium channels.
In 2015, Auspex Pharmaceuticals was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., a global pharmaceutical company. The acquisition brought SD-809 into Teva's pipeline, and the drug was subsequently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the brand name Austedo for the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington's disease and tardive dyskinesia.
As a result of the acquisition, Auspex Pharmaceuticals is no longer a publicly traded company.
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