Belgian biotech company Rewind Therapeutics said on Thursday that it plans to discover and develop first-in-class inhibitors of a key GPCR (G protein-coupled receptor) target that has an influential role in myelin-related neurological diseases under a EUR2.9m grant from Flanders Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO).

Rewind's collaboration partners include the Stem Cell Institute at KU Leuven (KUL) and imec, a research based nanoelectronics and digital technologies company.

Under the partnership, KUL will develop cellular screening assays based on human stem cells to assess the potential of small molecule candidates to block the target GPCR and induce nerve remyelination and imec will devise a novel chip-based engineering approach to measure nerve myelination.

According to Rewind, the collaboration partners will provide state-of-the-art and complementary expertise necessary to establish a disruptive innovation platform for studying the biology of nerve myelination and neuronal function and provide unique advantages in discovering and advancing new potent and selective drugs for nerve and brain repair.

Myelin-related diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, are those where the myelin sheath surrounding nerves is damaged leading to deficient nerve transmission that may affect multiple functions, including sensation, cognition and movement, among others. The causes of damage may be genetic, a result of infectious or autoimmune disease or from exposure to toxic agents or other forms of brain injury.