Cambridge, MA-based Proclara Biosciences (formerly NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals) won a $250,000 grant from Biopharmaceuticals Australia (BPA) to support the development of a preclinical fusion protein candidate, NPT189, for treating Alzheimer’s disease and other age-related neurological disorders. The firm was also granted $25,000 by BPA to support the establishment of Proclara Biosciences Australia, which the firm says will allow it to tap into the country’s service infrastructure. Work to produce NPT189 for preclinical studies will start at contract development and manufacturing organization Patheon’s Brisbane manufacturing facility during 2017. BPA is an industry development company owned by the Queensland State Government. It established the $65M Brisbane manufacturing facility and is partnered with Patheon as the long-term commercial operator.

Proclara is exploiting its GAIM (general amyloid interaction motif) platform to develop drugs that target protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, other age-related central nervous system disorders, and protein-misfolding diseases, including systemic amyloidosis. Lead candidate NPT088 is in Phase I development for the Alzheimer’s disease indication. In November 2016, Proclara was awarded a $700,000 Part the Cloud grant from the Alzheimer’s Association to support the ongoing Phase Ib study.

Proclara’s preclinical candidate NPT289 is in development for the Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease indications and potentially for orphan indications, including rare systemic amyloidosis diseases. The firm says its GAIM platform may also allow the development of drugs targeting other orphan indications, including progressive supranuclear palsy, Huntington’s disease, and Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease.

Proclara raised $47 million in a Series E round of financing in September 2016, when it also changed its name from NeuroPhage Pharmaceuticals to Proclara Biosciences.
 

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