Biognosys researches Parkinson's disease with the Michael J. Fox Foundation

(CONNECT) Biognosys has announced its collaboration with the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) to advance Parkinson's research. As part of the Foundation's global cooperation project LITE (LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange), the spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH), based at the Bio-Technopark Schlieren-Zurich, aims to use its proteomics platforms SISCAPA and TrueSignature to help develop better biomarkers for Parkinson's disease. The aim is to accelerate the development of therapies targeting LRRK2 and to identify and optimize reliable biomarkers.

If changes or mutations occur in the LRRK2 gene, the protein can become overactive and disrupt normal cell processes. These mutations are among the best-known causes of hereditary Parkinson's disease. However, many more people could benefit from LRRK2-inhibiting therapy. This is because increasing evidence suggests that an overactive LRRK2 signaling pathway can also contribute to Parkinson's in people without hereditary mutations.

However, the development of biomarkers to measure the activity of LRRK2 has proven to be extremely difficult. This is where Biognosys wants to make a decisive contribution: the company believes that its highly sensitive, targeted proteomics platforms SISCAPA and TrueSignature are suitable for accelerating collaborative research. To this end, more than 50 partners from science, industry and the clinic have committed to sharing their resources, biosamples, tools and results in near real time from the outset of the LITE project.

"Successful clinical development requires not only promising therapeutic approaches, but also reliable tools to measure whether these therapies achieve the intended biological effect," Dr. Oliver Rinner, Senior Vice President of Biognosys, is quoted as saying. "By combining Biognosys' expertise in highly sensitive, quantitative proteomics with MJFF's collaborative LITE framework, we aim to accelerate the development of biomarkers that can meaningfully guide Parkinson's drug development and minimize the risk of clinical trials." ce/mm