MAO-A Inhibitors
1 drugsAbout MAO-A
Monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) is an enzyme in the CNS that breaks down monoamine neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, influencing mood, behavior, and cognition.
MAO-A is a therapeutic target with strong genetic support (max score 0.88); loss-of-function variants are linked to Brunner syndrome (0.88) and monoamine oxidase A deficiency (0.61), suggesting activation may be beneficial.
MAO-A is targeted by one FDA-approved drug, TAUVID, a small molecule; AVID Radiopharmaceuticals Inc. is the sole company with an approved drug for this target.
MAO-A Genetic Evidence Strong
MAO-A has strong genetic support with a max score of 0.88 across 8 diseases.
Strong genetic validation suggests that clinical trials targeting MAO-A have a higher likelihood of success.
💡 Why activation?
- • Loss-of-function variants increase disease risk (OR > 1) — restoring function may help
- • 100% directional consistency across 3 traits
- • Strong signal in nutritional or metabolic disease, genetic, familial or congenital disease pathways
Cross-Disease Effects
Trade-off: LowDirection of Effect
100% alignedEvidence Across Diseases
8 totalGWAS and other genetic studies link MAOA to 8 diseases.
Loss-of-function causes disease; activation may help
Loss-of-function causes disease; activation may help
Understanding these scores
Association Score (0-1): Combines all evidence types (genetic, literature, drugs, animal models). Higher = more evidence linking target to disease. This is a ranking heuristic, not a confidence score.
L2G Score: Open Targets uses a machine learning model (Locus-to-Gene) to predict which gene is causal at each GWAS locus. L2G=0.5 means ~50% probability of being the causal gene. Only associations with L2G > 0.05 are included.
Odds Ratio (OR): From gene burden studies (UK Biobank, AstraZeneca PheWAS). Measures how loss-of-function variants affect disease risk. OR<1 = protective (inhibiting target may help), OR>1 = risk (losing function causes disease).
Beta (β): Effect size for continuous traits. β<0 = protective, β>0 = risk.
Clinical Translation (~1.8x): Based on Nelson et al. 2015: drug targets with genetic evidence have ~2x higher success rates in clinical trials. We estimate: Strong support (score ≥0.7) → ~1.8x, Moderate (0.3-0.7) → ~1.3x, Weak → baseline.
Colocalization (H4): Tests whether a GWAS signal and an eQTL/pQTL signal share the same causal variant. H4 is the posterior probability that both traits are associated AND share a causal variant. H4 > 0.8 = strong evidence that gene expression/protein levels drive disease risk. This links genetic variation → gene expression → disease, supporting the target-disease connection.
Top MAO-A Drugs
AVID Radiopharmaceuticals Inc. is the only company with an approved drug targeting MAO-A.
Low competition suggests a high barrier to entry or untapped market potential for new entrants.
MAO-A Drug Modality Landscape
Modalities
Routes of Administration
Only one approved drug targets MAO-A, using small molecule modality.
The lack of diverse modalities represents a whitespace opportunity for novel therapeutic approaches.
MAO-A Clinical Trials 1 trial
Phase 1-4 trials started in 2008 or later that test an FDA-approved drug acting on MAO-A. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov. How we count
Completion by Phase
| Phase | Total | Completed | Stopped | Active | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100% |
Top Sponsors
By Modality
Top Conditions
Top Drugs
MAO-A Drug Approval Timeline (2020 - 2020)
The first and most recent drug approval for MAO-A was in 2020 (TAUVID).
Recent approval indicates renewed interest, but market saturation may occur without innovation.
Pro Intelligence Preview
Deep insights for drug target analysis
Competitive Landscape
- • 1 companies competing
- • Market share by company
Full Drug Portfolio
- • All 1 approved drugs
- • Approval dates & indications
Genetic Validation
- • Full genetic evidence table
- • Effect sizes & directions
Approval Timeline
- • Full 1-drug timeline
- • First-of-modality markers
Clinical Trials Analysis
- • Sponsors: 1 (0 companies)
- • Completion rates by condition
Full summary • All drugs • Genetic evidence • Trials • Timeline
How We Count Trials
- Trials: phase 1-4 interventional trials on ClinicalTrials.gov that started in 2008 or later and test an FDA-approved drug acting on MAO-A. A trial counts if an approved drug acting on MAO-A is in any arm, including as a comparator, and a trial that tests two such drugs counts once. Trials that test only unapproved drugs are not counted. A trial listed as phase 1/2 counts as phase 1, and phase 2/3 as phase 2.
- Active: recruiting, not yet recruiting, enrolling by invitation, or active and no longer recruiting.
- Completion rate: of the trials that have ended, the share marked Completed rather than Terminated or Withdrawn. Completed means the trial ended as planned; it does not mean the drug worked. Suspended trials are not counted as ended.
- Stopped: terminated or withdrawn. Trials stop for many reasons, including slow enrolment and business decisions, not only safety or efficacy.
- Sponsors: the lead sponsor of each trial. Companies are the sponsors ClinicalTrials.gov classes as industry; the rest are universities, hospitals, cooperative groups, government bodies and individuals.