Developing a therapy for Parkinson’s disease
A class of drugs to treat neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease will be developed as part of an agreement with the University of Melbourne and US company Procypra Therapeutics LLC.
A class of drugs to treat neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s disease will be developed as part of an agreement with the University of Melbourne and US company Procypra Therapeutics LLC.
Cross disciplinary research at the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health has found that a class of synthetic compounds called copper bis (thiosemicarbazones) can potentially treat Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Motor Neuron Disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressively degenerative neurological disorder that affects about 6.3 million worldwide.
Copper bis (thiosemicarbazones) have the potential to treat the disease by preventing these modifications to the proteins.
The research was led by Dr Paul Donnelly (School of Chemistry and Bio21 Institute), Associate Professor Kevin Barnham (Bio21 Institute, Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and the Department of Pharmacology) and Associate Professor Anthony White (Department of Pathology).
Professor Frances Separovic, head of the School of Chemistry at the University of Melbourne, said: “This agreement reflects the desire for innovative research at the University of Melbourne to be translated into impact and recognises the importance of working with academic collaborators, like the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and industry partners to achieve this goal.”
Under the arrangement, the University will receive royalty payments from the sale of products by Procypra. The company anticipates that first human clinical trials will begin within three years.
Procypra is a US start-up established by Collaborative Medicinal Development (CMD) LLC, a pharmaceutical development vehicle under the umbrella of US-based Cthulhu Ventures LLC.
