Oryzon participates in international research consortia on Parkinson’s

By Biocat

Over the next four years, Oryzon Genomics will participate in a European research project on Parkinson’s disease, led by the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) with participation from the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) and the Inbiomed Foundation (Spain).

The DDPDGENES (Identification of genes important for human midbrain dopamine neuron development and Parkinson’s disease) project has a budget of €3.7 millions and will receive a €2.82-millions subsidy from the European Union under the Program for Human Development and Ageing.

The kick-off meetings were held on 16 and 17 January 2012 in Stockholm, with participation from Dr. Tamara Maes, Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of the Catalan biotechnology company.

Oryzon has one of Europe’s most advanced technology platforms to identify biomarkers for various oncological and neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, they have a program to develop mono- and bi-specific drugs against the lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) and mono amine oxidase B (MAO-B)enzymes, which different genomic programs have recognized may play an important role in the progression of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s.

According to Tamara Maes, "based on our preliminary research results, we hope that this strategy of inhibiting LSD1 and MAO-B might be in the future part of the therapeutic approach to stop the progression of the disease. To be part of this consortium and working with some of the best academics and institutes across Europe is a privilege and will allow us to produce a better understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms of development of Parkinson’s."

On 6 February, Biocat announced on this website the preclinical development of Oryzon’s first drug candidate (a bi-specific inhibitor against LSD1 and MAO-B) to treat Huntington’s disease.