Domainex Collaborates with UK Charity to Develop Therapies for Parkinson’s

Domainex is collaborating with Parkinson’s UK—a charitable funder of Parkinson’s research in Europe—for the development of small-molecule therapies targeting the neuroinflammation that is excessive in patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

According to a Feb. 3, 2022 press release, Domainex will provide fully integrated drug discovery services and the drug development arm of Parkinson’s UK will invest up to £3 million ($4 million) in the project. Using some of the previous work performed by Parkinson’s UK, which has led to the identification of novel small molecules that target a protein found on microglia in the brain, Domainex will conduct integrated drug discovery to ultimately select a clinical candidate. The end goal of the partnership is to develop a therapy that can slow or stop the progression of the disease.

“We are thrilled to have been selected by Parkinson’s UK to work on this promising project which has the potential to improve the lives of 145,000 people living with Parkinson’s in the UK,” said Tom Mander, CEO of Domainex, in the press release. “Domainex has built up significant expertise of working with several charities and patient foundations, including projects funded by the British Heart Foundation, CHDI Foundation and the Wellcome Trust, where we have utilized our extensive knowledge to add significant value. We look forward to working with the team at Parkinson’s UK and supporting the wider Parkinson’s community to progress the development of potentially life-changing medicines. Having studied microglial cells during my DPhil and spent a good part of my early industrial career working on macrophage activation, I am especially interested to see whether a new therapy emerges from our partnership.”

“Domainex was selected following an extensive review process on the basis of their experience and capability to execute a fully integrated drug discovery project, including the development of neuroinflammation assays and the optimization of our compounds’ target engagement in the brain,” added Richard Morphy, Drug Discovery manager at Parkinson’s UK, in the press release. “We’re delighted to work with Domainex and our other project partners to find compounds that can mitigate the damaging microglial over-activation in Parkinson’s. The Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech is driven by the experiences and most pressing needs of the Parkinson's community. We’re excited to work with Domainex over the course of the project to engage and involve people living with the condition in this important work.”

Source: Domainex