BOSTON, MA – 16 May, 2016 – Klogene Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded a $1.49 Million small business innovation research grant (SBIR) by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The funds from this award (number R44AG053084) will be used for the development of novel therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases.
The intellectual property, which is the initial basis for Klogene’s drug development program, is being exclusively licensed from Boston University and is the result of years of collaboration between Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School affiliated Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration (LDDN) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).
“This is a major milestone for our research. My laboratory at Boston University School of Medicine has studied the Klotho gene in the brain and suggested neuroprotective therapeutic strategies based on its up-regulation since 2003,” said Dr. Carmela Abraham, Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmacology at Boston University School of Medicine and co-founder of Klogene Therapeutics, Inc. “We are pleased that our pioneering work has been endorsed by a generous NIH grant and by additional researchers at other institutions, who are now also studying the role of Klotho in the brain and its potential as a central nervous system (CNS) therapeutic,” she added. “I dedicated the last 36 years of my career to Alzheimer’s disease research and I do not intend to stop until we have a treatment or a cure. I am more optimistic than ever that we will succeed,” said Dr. Abraham.
“The small molecule compounds we developed in this collaboration penetrate the blood brain barrier, have good drug-like properties and boost Klotho levels in the brain as much as two-fold, without toxic effects,” said Dr. Kevin Hodgetts, Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Director of the LDDN at BWH, and co-founder of Klogene Therapeutics, Inc. “We are excited to see them being further tested and developed into a drug by Klogene,” he added.
“We are excited to see such a promising novel Alzheimer’s therapy advance,” said Dr. Howard Fillit, Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer of the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). Dr. Fillit is a geriatrician, neuroscientist and leading expert in Alzheimer’s disease. “The ADDF has supported Dr. Carmela Abraham’s research from its early stages and continues to do so today as her work with Dr. Kevin Hodgetts progresses from academic research labs into a biotech startup.”
In addition to the AD-related published work, Dr. Abraham’s team reported that boosting expression of the Klotho gene in the brain has the potential to be beneficial in multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative conditions.
Klogene Therapeutics Inc. has assembled a world-class team of scientific advisors including Dr. Makoto Kuro-o who discovered and named the Klotho gene about twenty years ago and studied its role primarily in Chronic Kidney Disease, Dr. Manfred Windisch a world-renown expert in CNS drug development who planned and conducted 25 Phase I to Phase III clinical trials, Dr. George Trainor a recipient of American Chemical Society’s “Heroes of Chemistry Award” and a medicinal chemistry executive who advanced 35 drug candidates into clinical development during his career, and Dr. Aaron Ciechanover a 2004 laureate of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
About Klogene Therapeutics, Inc.
Klogene (www.klogene.com) is a startup company developing novel neuroprotective therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s drug development strategy is based on small molecules that penetrate the blood brain barrier and enhance the expression of the Klotho gene. While Klotho boosting small molecules have potential in treatment of a number of CNS and other diseases, Klogene Therapeutics, Inc. is focusing initially on Alzheimer’s.
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Media Contact
Company Name: Klogene Therapeutics, Inc.
Contact Person: Menachem Abraham
Email: mabraham@klogene.com
Phone: 781 718 5102
Country: United States
Website: www.klogene.com
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