SandboxAQ collaborating with the University of Dundee through The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE) program to improve its inhibitor for the gene most commonly associated with Parkinson’s
PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — SandboxAQ announced today it has signed a $25 million research grant through The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE) program to advance drug candidates for Parkinson’s disease (PD.) The partnership brings SandboxAQ’s expertise in neurodegenerative diseases and its Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) to cutting-edge research in the field of Parkinson’s research where, despite important biological and genetic discoveries, effective new therapeutics have yet to be approved.
As part of the partnership, SandboxAQ will collaborate with University of Dundee in Scotland to improve the potency and specificity of its LRRK2 inhibitors and to identify innovative compounds acting as allosteric modulators. LRRK2 is a gene identified in 2004 as being the most commonly associated with Parkinson’s, however, no new therapy targeting this protein has reached the market.
This research grant is to support an MJFF program focused on bridging basic science advances to industry-led drug development. LITE will include tens of millions of dollars in grant support and has already attracted more than 30 academic and clinical collaborators and more than a dozen companies. The program aims to develop new approaches to targeting the LRRK2 gene with therapies while also supporting the development of LRRK2-relevant clinical biomarkers to measure progress.
The initiative will take advantage of recent LRRK2 structures to identify or design new drug candidate molecules and complete pre-clinical investigation, with the goal of optimizing four inhibitors with distinct modes of action within the next two years. The agreement includes a license for SandboxAQ’s LQMs, with key milestones to be delivered over the 24-month engagement period.
“By combining MJFF’s network and expertise with SandboxAQ’s AI and computational capabilities, we have a powerful force joining us and creating a unique opportunity to accelerate the development of new therapies for Parkinson’s,” said Professor Dario Alessi, Director of the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit at the University of Dundee and LITE program leader. “This collaboration represents a significant step forward in our understanding and treatment of this challenging disease.”
SandboxAQ’s LQMs integrate AI tools with physics-based scoring functions, allowing the creation of detailed protein-ligand complex models, the rapid screening of millions of compounds, ligand identification, and small molecule design.
These technologies will help advance the research being conducted across the LITE Consortium, whose projects are led by scientists from the University of Dundee and attract more than 30 global academic and clinical collaborators as well as more than a dozen companies. SandboxAQ is one of the first commercial partners to join the LITE consortium.
“We are confident that SandboxAQ’s Large Quantitative Models and AI simulation techniques will enable us to translate academic discoveries into new drugs and ultimately help people who have Parkinson’s disease,” said Nadia Harhen, GM of AI Simulation at SandboxAQ. “Our partners at the University of Dundee have done extraordinarily important preclinical research, and we are excited to help them translate their discoveries into breakthrough therapies to help patients affected by PD.”
The collaboration with the University of Dundee is SandboxAQ’s second research partnership with the MJFF. Also today, SandboxAQ shared a collaboration with Belgium-based KU Leuven‘s Vangheluwe Lab to identify small molecule modulators capable of restoring the function of the ATP10B gene, another key gene linked to PD.
About SandboxAQ
SandboxAQ is a B2B company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world’s greatest challenges. The company’s Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) deliver critical advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cyber and other sectors. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors including T. Rowe Price, Eric Schmidt, Breyer Capital, Guggenheim Partners, Marc Benioff, Thomas Tull, Section32, and others. For more information, visit http://www.sandboxaq.com.
About the LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE) Program
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research launched LITE in 2024 to support new approaches to targeting the LRRK2 gene with therapies, while also supporting the development of LRRK2-relevant clinical biomarkers to measure progress. Mutations in the LRRK2 gene were first linked to PD 20 years ago, and they are now understood to be the most common causes of inherited PD. The LITE program, which will provide tens of millions of dollars of grant support, paves the way for new cooperation on LRRK2, attracting more than 30 academic and clinical collaborators as well as more than a dozen companies expressing interest at launch. The program connects companies that are developing LRRK2-targeting therapies with key opinion leaders and provides preclinical and clinical resources to establish best practices for advancing LRRK2 therapeutics. LITE will be led by Dario Alessi, PhD, of the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom. Alessi, a global leader in the study of kinases, leads a project focusing on LRRK2 signaling pathways as part of the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) Collaborative Research Network (CRN), creating a point of collaboration across initiatives as he continues to build on this work in the space. The LITE program also will benefit from collaboration with other ASAP initiative-supported programs including the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiatives (PPMI) and the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2). Learn more here.
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