SYNUCLEAN-D

Description

Edition: 2018
Research center: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Scientific Area: Neurosciences
Business area: Therapeutic
Status: In development
Contact: Salvador.Ventura@uab.es

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, and its prevalence will continue to grow as the population ages. Despite the fact that more than ten million people worldwide suffer from PD, current treatments only focus on relieving symptoms and none have yet managed to stop or revert the progression of the disease.

Goals

To progress on the characterization of the drug SYNUCLEAN-D, a small compound that effectively inhibits the aggregation of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn), the underlying process behind neuronal degeneration in PD.

Problem to Solve

Current drugs can only manage the motor symptoms in early PD, such as tremors and other mobility concerns, but as the disease progresses these drugs become ineffective.

There is an urgent need to develop revolutionary treatments to prevent the progress of PD, improve the patient’s quality of life for a longer period of time, and reduce the economic impact of Parkinson’s on the healthcare system.

Innovation

SYNUCLEAN-D has been shown to stop the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in both in vitro and in vivo models, thanks to its capacity to inhibit alpha-syn aggregation.

Level of Innovation

In contrast with other alpha-syn aggregation inhibitors that are already on clinical trials, SYNUCLEAN-D has the unique ability to block alpha-syn aggregates, prevent them from propagating and help to disrupt and clear these inclusions. To date, there is no other reported chemical compound that offers all these features in a single molecule.