The grant, part of MJFF’s Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program, aims to support promising therapeutic developments addressing unmet medical needs in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Alchemab’s research, which targets prostaglandin biology in PD, offers a potentially groundbreaking approach to treatment.
Young Kwon, CEO of Alchemab, said: “We are delighted to be working with The Michael J. Fox Foundation whose goals we share of fostering innovative Parkinson’s disease research, enhancing understanding of the disease, and developing targeted therapies.
"This exciting program is another example of the power of a patient-led, unbiased approach to target and therapeutics discovery. Alongside our programs, which have the potential to impact frontotemporal dementia, Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s disease, we hope that our novel Parkinson’s disease program will be transformative for patients and unlock new disease understanding.”
Utilizing its platform integrating advanced proteomics, bioinformatics, and machine learning, Alchemab identified antibodies associated with disease resistance.
The company's research delves into how the prostaglandin pathway influences disease progression through comprehensive genetic and molecular analyses.
Moreover, Alchemab is harnessing computational resources to mine extensive PD datasets, including the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), to uncover novel targets.
Sohini Chowdhury, chief program officer at MJFF, added: “Alchemab has a unique approach to its research, and we are very much looking forward to seeing how this can identify new biomarkers and explore the role of inhibitory antibodies in Parkinson’s resilient individuals. We hope that this work will expand new treatment pathways and bring hope to patients challenged by the disease.”
