CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Rodin Therapeutics, a biotechnology company discovering and developing novel therapeutics to boost synaptic connections and resilience, today announced that it has received funding support from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to advance enabling research for its emerging program in Parkinson’s disease.
MJFF is supporting Rodin’s work through two rounds of grant funding, totaling approximately $600,000. Rodin’s novel approach is based on research demonstrating that synaptic loss and dysfunction is a primary pathology in multiple neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Rodin’s novel set of brain-penetrant small molecule drugs are designed to boost pathways that play a critical role in synaptic function while minimizing key safety concerns.
“We are proud of the grants from The Michael J. Fox Foundation to advance our efforts to develop new ways of treating Parkinson’s disease, which remains an area of tremendous need for patients and their families,” said Adam Rosenberg, president and CEO of Rodin. “MJFF’s ongoing support has enabled Rodin to make important preclinical progress in optimizing the therapeutic window of our compounds as we prepare to advance into clinical trials.”
Parkinson's disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder with limited treatment options that affects one in 100 people over age 60. More than 5 million people around the world live with Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the central nervous system that results from the loss of cells in various parts of the brain, including a region called the substantia nigra. The substantia nigra cells produce dopamine, a chemical messenger responsible for transmitting signals within the brain that allow for coordination of movement. Loss of dopamine and dopaminergic synapses causes neurons to fire without normal control, leaving patients less able to direct or control their movement. Many Parkinson’s disease patients also exhibit signs of cognitive impairment, which remains an area of high unmet medical need.
“We are pleased to support Rodin’s research toward enhancing synaptic resilience, an intriguing new strategy with strong potential for treating Parkinson’s disease,” said Jamie Eberling, Ph.D., MJFF director of research programs. “The Rodin molecules exhibit favorable properties, and we look forward to continued progress as the company moves its program toward the clinic.”
About Rodin Therapeutics
Rodin Therapeutics is discovering
and developing first-in-class therapeutics for neurological disorders,
applying unique insights into the role of epigenetics and novel chemical
strategies to target specific HDAC complexes. Rodin’s unique
translational strategy, along with a targeted approach to synaptic
resilience, has potential across multiple phenotypically diverse
diseases – such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease,
frontotemporal dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic
brain injury - which all share the common root cause of impaired
neuronal and synaptic function.
About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
As
the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research, the
mission of The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) is dedicated to finding
a cure for Parkinson's disease through an aggressively funded research
agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those
living with Parkinson's today. In addition to funding more than $700
million in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered
the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of
worldwide Parkinson’s research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking
collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government
research funders; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson’s
disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes
Parkinson’s awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and
outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of
Team Fox members around the world.
