BioAdvance Funds TREVENTIS to Advance Alzheimer???s Drug Discovery
Press Release
Source: BioAdvance
On Monday August 10, 2009, 8:30 am EDT
Buzz up! 0 Print.PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioAdvance, the Biotechnology Greenhouse Corporation of Southeastern Pennsylvania, announced today a $550,000 seed-stage investment in TREVENTIS Corporation, an emerging life sciences company in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
TREVENTIS is focused on developing disease-modifying small molecule drugs and diagnostics for early stage treatment of Alzheimer???s disease (AD) and other major neurodegenerative disorders. The Company's proprietary discovery technology targets protein misfolding to inhibit the aggregation of amyloid proteins, including beta-amyloid (plaque) and tau proteins (tangles), both associated with the neuronal loss in Alzheimer???s disease. TREVENTIS is headed by industry veterans, L. William McIntosh, MBA and William Wong, PhD. The company???s scientific founder is Donald F. Weaver, MD, PhD, a board certified neurologist and world renowned medicinal chemist.
TREVENTIS Corporation???s drug discovery efforts have lead to the elucidation of a novel shared conformational drug target that is essential for pathogenic protein misfolding and aggregation, and is found on many proteins that cause human disease including beta-amyloid (A??) and tau. The subsequent development of a high resolution model of this target has enabled scientists at TREVENTIS to rationally design single new chemical entities (tool compounds) that inhibit the misfolding of multiple AD targets. The company's optimized leads have appropriate drug characteristics including predicted oral availability, high blood-brain-barrier penetration, biostability and exceptional potency in inhibiting the formation of A?? and tau neurotoxic oligomers.
???TREVENTIS represents the type of company that merits our investment in this tight capital market: a unique scientific approach to a significant unmet medical need, using a technology platform that enables multiple product opportunities with the potential to address several disease areas,??? said Barbara S. Schilberg, managing director and CEO of BioAdvance. ???Given the growing burden of??Alzheimer???s disease on our aging population, we think it is important to support continued innovation in an effort to find a disease-modifying drug.???
???The BioAdvance investment is critically important to TREVENTIS as it will allow us to develop a lead compound through proof of concept in animal model systems,??? said L. William McIntosh, CEO of TREVENTIS. ???Our approach to Alzheimer???s disease is unique because we have a viable solution to the central problem in Alzheimer???s drug discovery that has eluded both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to date: how to make active drugs/chemicals without the availability of a crystal structure.???
Tool compounds against this novel drug target have demonstrated statistically significant cognitive improvement in a double transgenic murine model of Alzheimer's disease. The company continues its focus on lead optimization with the purpose of electing a candidate for formal preclinical development.
With this new investment, BioAdvance has now committed $16.3 million in 26 seed-stage life sciences companies and 17 pre-seed investments. BioAdvance???s investments have enabled its portfolio companies to leverage an additional $981 million in subsequent capital and through M&A activity into the region.
About BioAdvance
Since its first investments in 2003, BioAdvance has committed more than $16 million to 26 life sciences companies and 17 pre-seed projects. BioAdvance investments have enabled its portfolio companies to leverage almost $1 billion in subsequent capital into the region from private equity, grants, collaborations and M&A activity. Six companies have been acquired including Acuity Pharmaceuticals, Alteris Therapeutics and Protez Pharmaceuticals. BioAdvance portfolio companies are working to develop products to treat health problems such as Alzheimer???s disease, cancer, diabetes, head trauma and infectious diseases. For more information visit www.bioadvance.com.
About TREVENTIS Corporation
TREVENTIS Corporation is headquartered in Southeastern Pennsylvania and has research operations in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The company is focused on the discovery and early stage development of disease modifying, small molecule drugs for Alzheimer???s and other protein misfolding diseases such as Parkinson???s and Huntington???s disease. In addition to its therapeutics programs, TREVENTIS has a novel approach to the development of diagnostics for early diagnosis and monitoring treatment effects in Alzheimer???s disease, MS and primary brain tumors.
Contact:
BioAdvanceEllen Semple, 610-230-0539orTREVENTIS CorporationL. William McIntosh, 610-488-6081
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