NRG Therapeutics Ltd, a UK-based innovative neuroscience company targeting mitochondrial dysfunction, announced on Monday that it has received a highly competitive Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) award to fund pre-clinical development of its novel small molecule disease-modifying medicines for the treatment of Parkinson's disease, motor neuron disease (MND) and other debilitating chronic neurodegenerative disorders.
The GBP2.68m early-stage BMC award part-funded by the government-backed agency Innovate UK will support a 24-month project, commencing this month.
NRG said that it is applying ground-breaking science in the field of mitochondrial biology to develop first-in-class treatments for Parkinson's, MND (also known as ALS) and, potentially, other neurodegenerative disorders. Its approach is based on inhibiting the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) in brain cells which has been shown to be neuroprotective in several preclinical models of Parkinson's and MND.
Dr Arthur Roach, director of Research at Parkinson's UK and an NRG Therapeutics board member, said, 'What has limited the pharmaceutical industry to date from exploring mPTP inhibitors as novel therapeutic treatments, has been the poor central nervous system (CNS) penetration of known mPTP inhibitors. NRG's small molecules are the first orally bioavailable and CNS-penetrant inhibitors of the mPTP. We are pleased to support NRG in developing its promising discoveries into new drug treatments that could transform the lives of people with Parkinson's.'
(EUR1=GBP0.85)
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