Booster Therapeutics is developing a novel therapeutic approach that aims to combat the accumulation of deviant proteins in cells, which are a major driver of Parkinson’s and other complex diseases
Grant will further research into activators of the 20S proteasome, which reverses proteasome dysfunction to enable recognition and degradation of a wide range of undesirable proteins
BERLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Booster Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of proteasome activator medicines to treat neurodegenerative and other diseases, announced today it has received a research grant of $5 million dollars from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) as part of MJFF’s Therapeutics Pipeline Program. This will support the development of small molecule therapeutics that re-activate the cellular quality control machinery of proteasomes.
“Developing treatments that target the root biological drivers of Parkinson’s is essential to delivering meaningful benefits for people living with the disease,” said Jessica Tomé Garcia, PhD, MJFF’s lead scientific program manager. “Through partnerships like our support of Booster Therapeutics, we aim to advance innovative approaches that strengthen the overall Parkinson’s therapy pipeline and move us closer to transformative treatments.”
When proteasome function is impaired, misfolded or otherwise ‘deviant’ proteins accumulate in cells and lead to toxicity. This breakdown of proteasome function is involved in many complex diseases and aging. Booster’s approach is a departure from current targeted protein degradation methods, which tag single disease proteins with the marker protein ubiquitin, leading to their degradation via 26S proteasomes. This can be effective, particularly in diseases driven by a single errant protein. But complex diseases like Parkinson’s are often driven by multiple protein dysfunctions. To achieve more widespread degradation of unwanted proteins, Booster’s compounds directly activate 20S proteasomes, which naturally recognize disordered proteins without the need for ubiquitin tagging. Booster’s approach aims to restore proteasome function and cellular homeostasis in complex age-related diseases like Parkinson’s.
“Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the nervous system that worsens as unwanted proteins build up in the brain over time. Proteasome activation has the potential to degrade deviant proteins that may be linked to Parkinson’s disease in a systematic fashion,” said Dr. Diogo Feleciano, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Booster. “We welcome this support of our research as we work towards a first-in-human phase 1 study of a potential new class of therapeutics.”
Booster Therapeutics was founded by Dr. Diogo Feleciano, Prof. Dr. Darci Trader, and Apollo Health Ventures, with support from Novo Holdings. Booster emerged from Apollo’s company creation investment strategy, who supported the formation of a world-class team to realize the untapped potential of proteasome activation against a range of difficult-to-treat diseases. The company has built an extensive library of activator compounds with therapeutic potential and aims to develop a multi-disease pipeline to address proteinopathies.
About Booster Therapeutics
Booster Therapeutics is pioneering a new class of medicines that activate the cell’s natural quality control machinery to treat a range of complex indications. Booster’s small molecule therapeutics, discovered through the DGRADX™ platform, are designed to directly boost the activity of 20S proteasomes to restore the body’s ability to clear disease-causing proteins. The company is developing a multi-disease pipeline, with an initial focus on neurodegenerative diseases associated with impaired proteasome function such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Booster is based in Berlin, Germany. For more information, visit www.boostertx.com.
Contacts
Media Contact:
Ten Bridge Communications
Michael Galfetti
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