Over 30 million cases of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease occur worldwide.
Lucy Therapeutics, also known as LucyTx, has said that it has secured an extra $12.5 million in investment to further develop novel medications and the company’s neurological disease research initiatives.
With the addition of new money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and £1.6 million from Parkinson’s UK’s Biotech program, the firm now has $36 million in total capital from its current backers, Engine Ventures and Safar Partners.
The new project intends to continue the development of a novel drug target for Rett syndrome, a rare genetic neurological and developmental disorder that affects brain development, as well as to develop novel therapies based on mitochondrial small-molecule treatments and diagnostic biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD).
The two most prevalent neurodegenerative disorders in the world, PD and AD, impact ten million and twenty-four million individuals, respectively.
The researchers will use LucyTx’s platform to analyze a range of disease drivers that are crucial to the disease’s progression, such as mitochondrial, environmental, and genetic factors. This analysis will help to map out the disease’s intricate biological pathways and identify shared biological targets for treatment.
In addition to providing the energy required for life and controlling cell division and growth, the mitochondria are in charge of facilitating communication within cells. Cell death results from damage to the brain’s mitochondria in Parkinson’s disease (PD).
By lowering levels of alpha-synuclein, a protein that accumulates in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and damages dopamine-producing brain cells, LucyTx has created compounds that specifically target a crucial protein within the mitochondria to enhance its function and stop the death of brain cells.
With the potential to provide a medication to save dying brain cells and halt the progression of Parkinson’s disease, the additional funds will help advance testing to come closer to clinical trials.
“This latest funding will advance our work pioneering a new class of therapeutics designed to address mitochondrial dysfunction and provide potentially curative treatments for people suffering from AD, PD, and Rett syndrome,” said Amy Ripka, founder and CEO of LucyTx.
