What it is
J147 is a synthetic small molecule, a curcumin derivative, designed by David Schubert and Pamela Maher’s laboratory at the Salk Institute using a phenotypic screening approach in aged mice rather than starting from a single known drug target. It is not a peptide. It is now owned by Abrexa Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is running its human clinical development program.
Proposed mechanisms described in the reviewed literature include inhibition of mitochondrial ATP synthase and downstream effects on cellular NAD+ and acetyl-CoA levels, changes linked in mouse studies to reduced markers of brain aging; separately, J147 has been reported in mouse studies to stimulate markers of neurogenesis and improve dendritic structure.
Where its human development actually stands
A completed Phase 1 trial (Abrexa Pharmaceuticals, NCT03838185) gave single ascending oral doses of J147 to 64 healthy young and elderly volunteers in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design, to assess safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics. Specific dose levels tested were not disclosed in the public trial record reviewed for this entry. This was a safety and PK study; it was not designed or powered to show any benefit.
As of this entry’s last check, a Phase 2 trial (NCT07430917, “JUMPSTART”) is recruiting, testing a single intravenous bolus of a J147 injectable formulation, given alongside mechanical thrombectomy, in patients with acute ischemic stroke undergoing endovascular clot removal. This is a safety-and-dose-finding study with imaging and clinical outcome measures as secondary endpoints; it has not reported results.
No completed human efficacy trial for J147, in stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, or any other indication, was located for this entry. Everything published about a benefit in Alzheimer’s disease, depression, diabetic neuropathy or fatty liver disease is a mouse or cell-culture finding.
What is not known
Whether J147 does anything beneficial in a human being. The only completed human trial measured safety and pharmacokinetics, not efficacy, and the efficacy trial now underway has not reported results.
What dose, if any, will be carried forward from the ongoing Phase 2 stroke trial, and whether an effective human dose exists at all.
Whether any of the mouse findings in Alzheimer’s disease, depression or other indications will be tested in a dedicated human trial for those indications specifically, rather than the acute stroke population now being studied.