The biotech company Denali have announced that they have signed a collaborative deal with the pharmaceutical company Biogen.
Together the two companies will co-develop a new class of drug for Parkinson’s. LRRK2 is a protein that becomes hyperactive in some cases of Parkinson’s and this over-active form of the protein is believed to be associated with the progressive loss of structure or function of brain cells (neurons) observed in Parkinson’s.
Denali has been developing inhibitors that will dampen down the over-expression of the LRRK2 protein and their new deal with Biogen will allow them to move their LRRK2 inhibitors into the next stage of clinical testing. The new deal represents a major step forward for Parkinson’s research and the two companies hope to start recruiting for their next trial in 2021.
