Proteostasis Therapeutics has acquired two licenses from Harvard University for enhancing the activity of a key cellular protein clearance mechanism, the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The technologies, which include novel targets and small molecule compounds, contribute to the company’s approach to developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s, and orphan diseases such as cystic fibrosis and lysosomal storage diseases.
“Protein clearance mechanisms, along with cellular pathways governing protein folding and trafficking, are the cornerstones of the Proteostasis Network that maintain proper protein function,” said Peter Reinhart, PhD, president and chief scientific officer of Proteostasis. “Proteostasis is building a novel drug discovery platform for discovering and developing disease-modifying therapeutics that regulate the Proteostasis Network. These licenses from Harvard provide us with multiple novel targets and compounds that complement our existing programs, which are focused on other pathways within the Proteostasis Network.”
The development of compounds that regulate proteasome gating may result in therapeutics that increase the protein degradation capacity of disease-relevant proteins, such as tau and a-synuclein, which have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
Isaac T. Kohlberg, Harvard’s chief technology development officer and head of its Office of Technology Development, believes the acquisition will provide a positive link between leaders in academia and industry to progress potentially groundbreaking research from the lab to the clinic.
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Source: Proteostasis Therapeutics