Promising ALS Drug Candidate “SO-002” Moves into Clinical Stage — Clinical Trial Contract Finalized with West China Hospital, Sichuan University

SOCIUM Inc. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Katsuhisa Horimoto) [#1] has officially signed a clinical trial contract with West China Hospital of Sichuan University [#2] for an investigator-initiated clinical trial of its ALS drug candidate, SO-002.

This clinical trial was approved by the Ethics Committee of West China Hospital, Sichuan University in September 2024 (our company’s NEWS-2024/9/17), and following the completion of peripheral contracts, the final contract was concluded on September 28, 2025. The clinical trial will now officially commence.

The trial will be conducted as a single-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparative trial design involving 20 subjects to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and pharmacokinetics of SO-002 in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The trial will be led by Professor Shang Huifang, a globally recognized expert in neurodegenerative diseases. Encouraging preclinical results in ALS model mice—conducted in collaboration with Nanjing Medical University (data unpublished)—suggest strong potential efficacy in human patients.

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#1 SOCIUM Inc. is a venture company that utilizes drug repositioning platform technology to discover and develop drug candidates, particularly for rare diseases. With the vision of “Drug discovery for patients with no drug, Drug discovery for patients with ineffective drug” the company is committed to addressing unmet medical needs.

#2 Sichuan University Huaxi Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in China, with approximately 4,900 beds. It has a long history of medical activities dating back to the late 18th century and possesses outstanding scientific and academic research capabilities. In fact, according to the 2022 China Hospital Ranking conducted by the Hospital Management Research Institute of Fudan University, the hospital achieved the following scores: Overall Ranking: 93.055 out of 100 points (2nd in China) / Medical Evaluation: 73.055 out of 80 points (2nd in China) / Academic Evaluation: 20 out of 20 points (1st in China). Reference: https://www.wchscu.cn/Home.html

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E-mail: contact@socium.co.jp