Alto Neuroscience acquires dopamine agonist combination candidate

Alto Neuroscience (ANRO) entered into an asset purchase agreement with Chase Therapeutics for a portfolio of potentially best-in-class dopamine agonist drug combinations, including ALTO-207, formerly known as CTC-501, for treatment resistant depression, or TRD, generally defined as a failure on two or more antidepressants. The most advanced program, ALTO-207, is a fixed-dose combination of pramipexole, a dopamine D3-preferring D3/D2 agonist, approved for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease with demonstrated antidepressant effect, and ondansetron, an antiemetic, selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist. As a fixed-dose combination, ALTO-207 is designed to enable rapid titration and higher dosing by mitigating the dose-limiting adverse events typically experienced with pramipexole. ALTO-207 is being developed to address the significant unmet need for patients with TRD. Alto expects to initiate a Phase 2b trial, with a potentially pivotal design, by mid-2026. Alto acquired CTC-501 – now ALTO-207 -, in development for depression, and CTC-413 – now ALTO-208 -, in development for Parkinson’s disease. Both product candidates are novel patent-protected dopamine agonists.