Our Parkinson's Place: Medicxi founds Parkinson’s startup, commits €9M

I HAVE PARKINSON'S DISEASES AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE A PLACE WHERE THE CONTENTS OF UPDATED NEWS IS FOUND IN ONE PLACE. THAT IS WHY I BEGAN THIS BLOG.

I COPY NEWS ARTICLES PERTAINING TO RESEARCH, NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE, DEMENTIA, THE BRAIN, DEPRESSION AND PARKINSON'S WITH DYSTONIA. I ALSO POST ABOUT FUNDRAISING FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE AND EVENTS. I TRY TO BE UP-TO-DATE AS POSSIBLE.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR IT'S CONTENTS. I AM JUST A COPIER OF INFORMATION SEARCHED ON THE COMPUTER. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THE COPIES ARE JUST THAT, COPIES AND AT TIMES, I AM UNABLE TO ENLARGE THE WORDING OR KEEP IT UNIFORMED AS I WISH. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND I AM A PERSON WITH PARKINSON'S DISEASE. I HAVE NO MEDICAL EDUCATION,

I JUST WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU WHAT I READ ON THE INTERNET. IT IS UP TO YOU TO DECIDE WHETHER TO READ IT AND TALK IT OVER WITH YOUR DOCTOR. I AM JUST THE COPIER OF DOCUMENTS FROM THE COMPUTER. I DO NOT HAVE PROOF OF FACT OR FICTION OF THE ARTICLE. I ALSO TRY TO PLACE A LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF EACH ARTICLE TO SHOW WHERE I RECEIVED THE INFORMATION SO THAT YOU MAY WANT TO VISIT THEIR SITE.

THIS IS FOR YOU TO READ AND TO ALWAYS KEEP AN OPEN MIND.

PLEASE DISCUSS THIS WITH YOUR DOCTOR, SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, OR CONCERNS. NEVER DO ANYTHING WITHOUT TALKING TO YOUR DOCTOR FIRST..

I DO NOT MAKE ANY MONEY FROM THIS WEBSITE. I VOLUNTEER MY TIME TO HELP ALL OF US TO BE INFORMED.

I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY ADVERTISEMENT OR HEALING POWERS, HEALING FROM HERBS AND ETC. UNLESS IT HAS GONE THROUGH TRIALS AND APPROVED BY FDA. IT WILL GO INTO SPAM.

THIS IS A FREE SITE FOR ALL WITH NO ADVERTISEMENTS

THANK YOU FOR VISITING! TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Medicxi founds Parkinson’s startup, commits €9M

by Nick Paul Taylor

Oct 18, 2016

A Lewy body in a brain cell of the substantia nigra in Parkinson's disease.

Medicxi has unveiled its second new co in as many weeks. The VC shop returned to France to source the underlying science, teaming with former Merck Serono partner Domain Therapeutics to access a drug intended to induce production of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF).

Mavalon Therapeutics, the asset-centric company founded to advance the candidate, will receive up to €9 million ($10 million) from Medicxi. As with other Medicxi-founded startups that have received similar sums of money, the funding is intended to support Mavalon through to the delivery of clinical efficacy data, at which point the range of business development options open to the company could expand significantly.

Medicxi’s interest in the asset is underpinned by its potential to overcome a persistent problem that has held back a promising field. Mavalon is working on an orally available small molecule designed to induce production of GDNF in the brain. The potential of GDNF to slow or reverse cell death in the brain has attracted interest for years--Amgen paid $240 million for the biotech that discovered the protein in 1994--but delivery challenges have stymied progress.

Companies have tried an array of tricks to get GDNF across the blood-brain barrier. Amgen delivered the protein directly into the fluids separating the lobes of the brain, but data from the 38 patients who received this regimen fell well short of the potential pointed to by animal testing. Since then, researchers have investigated whether intranasal delivery or gene therapy can bypass the barrier, but the long wait for success in GDNF continues.

Domain Therapeutics stepped up its interest in the protein in 2011 when it landed a grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF). That grant enabled the biotech to advance a positive allosteric modulator of metabotropic glutamate receptor type 3 (mGluR3 PAM) through preclinical testing.

By targeting mGluR3, Domain thought it could make striatal neurons produce GDNF. A summary of data presented by MJFF backs up the idea, but the progress of lead candidate DT010709 and related compounds have stuttered in recent years.

Strasbourg, France-based Domain has been looking for a collaborator to work on lead optimization for a couple of years without success, despite having a track record in metabotropic glutamate receptors. Domain is perhaps best known for its Parkinson’s deal with Merck Serono. That collaboration fell foul of a rejig at Serono but was given a second chance when Prexton Therapeutics took on the asset. The drug, a mGluR4 PAM, is set to enter Phase II next year.

While the Prexton program is looking to treat the symptoms of Parkinson’s, Mavalon is aiming to stop the progression of the disease.

http://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/medicxi-founds-parkinson-s-startup-commits-eu9m