Cognition
Therapeutics Inc. (CogRx), a privately held, clinical stage pharmaceutical
company focused on discovering and developing disease-modifying therapies for
neurodegenerative diseases, announced today that, aided by a grant from The
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF), it will use its
validated discovery platform to simultaneously discover drug leads and novel
targets in Parkinson's disease, which affects one in one hundred adults over
the age of 60. Parkinson's research remains focused on finding a cure for
Parkinson's disease and development of treatments that can slow, stop or
reverse the progression of the disease.
"We
are honored to receive this award from The Michael J. Fox Foundation. The
Foundation has assembled the most collaborative, supportive research networks
in the world committed to stopping this disease, and we are very excited to be
part of this dedicated community," said Dr. Susan Catalano, Chief Science
Officer of Cognition Therapeutics and Principal Investigator on the awarded
project. "This grant provides rigorous peer-reviewed validation of the
approach we've taken to Parkinson's disease, and will enable us to discover
drug candidates capable of stopping the toxic protein forms that cause the
disease."
Researchers
at CogRx will evaluate drug candidates that may stop the toxic changes seen in
Parkinson's. Scientists believe that in Parkinson's disease the protein
alpha-synuclein changes shape, forming oligomers that aggregate and cause brain
cell dysfunction and cell death. CogRx has developed methods to measure many of
these toxic changes in brain cells grown in a petri dish. Using these methods,
the company is also testing the effect of drug candidates on the toxic
alpha-synuclein oligomers. If this research is successful, CogRx will be able
to optimize an initial drug candidate to improve effectiveness at stopping the
toxicity and will then test these in validated animal models.
There
are currently no drugs available that can stop the toxic effects of alpha-synuclein
oligomers on brain cells and slow or stop the progression of Parkinson's
disease. Such a therapy would give hope to the millions of patients living with
this disease and the many more who may age into Parkinson's risk.
About
CogRx's Small Molecule Drug Discovery Technology Program
CogRx's
drug discovery platform is unique in that it measures restored brain cell
function, which differentiates CogRx from its competitors. It has been
deliberately designed for combined drug target and drug candidate discovery
against neurotoxic protein accumulation and can be rapidly configured to model
a number of neurodegenerative disorders in which abnormal protein accumulation
occurs. CogRx has already discovered small molecule drug candidates that can
efficiently displace from brain cells the toxic beta-amyloid oligomers
implicated in Alzheimer's disease and they have validated the platform by
confirmation that these candidates can reverse cognitive deficits in animal
models of Alzheimer's. With this MJFF award, the company will pursue discovery
and development of a new generation of compounds active against alpha-synuclein
to unlock the potential of its platform for discovering drugs for Parkinson's
disease.
About
CogRx
Cognition
Therapeutics is a privately held Pittsburgh-based pharmaceutical company whose
disease-relevant screening and novel chemistry platforms have produced a
pipeline of new small molecule drug candidates to treat Alzheimer's disease.
CogRx's leading clinical stage drug candidate, CT1812, restores memory to
normal in Alzheimer's disease models.
SOURCE
Cognition Therapeutics, Inc. (CogRx)
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cognition-therapeutics-cogrx-receives-michael-j-fox-foundation-grant-to-study-inhibitors-of-alpha-synuclein-oligomers-for-the-treatment-of-parkinsons-disease-300336068.html?
No comments:
Post a Comment