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Discovery of new targets for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease
Key words: drug discovery, central nervous system
Consortium
Companies:
Euroscreen (Coordinator) • UCB •
University laboratories:
ULB (IRIBHM & ULB-Neurophysiology)
FUNDP
Research Centre: Certech
General project objective
The objective of the HOPE 4 PD project is twofold:
1- to validate two G-Protein coupled receptors G (GPCRs) whose expression is altered in the stratium of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease, as targets of drugs fro the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, with as first indication Parkinson’s disease;
2- to identify original compounds capable of modulating the activity of these receptors and facilitating the launch of an innovative programme for the discovery of drugs for Parkinson’s disease, including the development of original chemical molecules and demonstrating their effectiveness on animal models.
The Walloon consortium set up to implement this wide-ranging project involves 5 academic and industrial partners, whose combined expertise and resources will make it possible to cover all aspects of the project, from the discovery and validation of targets to the development of drugs.
Budget and financing
The total research budget committed by all the partners over the total duration of the project is €4,484,794. The funding made available by the DGTRE within the framework of the clusters is €3,270,123.
Conformity with the BioWin Health Cluster’s strategy
This project was submitted in the framework of the first call for projects launched by BioWin and entitled ‘‘Validation of targets, identification and pre-clinical development of candidate molecules for the treatment of cerebral, inflammatory and oncological pathologies”. It covers at the same time the “central nervous system diseases” therapeutic aspect and the “development of candidate molecules” and the “development of predictive molecules” technological aspects, thanks to the grouping and organisation of a network of experts and talented researchers from the academic and private sector in the area of GPCRs and the discovery/development of drugs for the treatment of central nervous system diseases.
Number of people involved and jobs created
The project involves 49 people, among whom the equivalent of 11 full-time jobs will be financed by the project. Profiles of the researchers: mainly a PhD or first degree in science and laboratory technicians. This project also makes it possible to maintain 5 jobs and the success of the project should make it possible to create several hundred jobs in Wallonia by 2019 for the development, production and commercialisation by UCB of a drug resulting from the HOPE 4 PD research programme.
Contact:
Frédéric Ooms
EUROSCREEN
HOPE 4 PD project coordinator
fooms@euroscreen.be
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