Parkinson’s UK and Domainex announce new collaboration

A new collaboration between Parkinson’s UK and Domainex has been announced, with a goal of slowing the progression of Parkinson’s disease by focusing on the development of small molecule treatments targeting neuroinflammation.

As the UK’s leading charitable investor in Parkinson's research in Europe, Parkinson's UK partnership with Domainex – a leading integrated medicines research services provider – is expected to run over two-and-a-half-years.

The charity plans to invest up to £3m in the project from its drug development branch, Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech. Virtual Biotech provides funding for research projects with scientific potential to help those living with Parkinson's.

Although inflammation is key to the body’s line of defence against infections and toxins, Parkinson's disease produces an excessive level of chronic inflammation in the brain. It is understood that this may be the cause of brain cell damage for people diagnosed with the condition.

Parkinson's UK has been working on research into new small molecules that target a protein found on the surface of microglia – the main type of immune cells in the brain which become overactive in the disease.

Dr Richard Morphy, Drug Discovery manager at Parkinson’s UK, said: “Domainex was selected following an extensive review process on the basis of their experience and capability to execute a fully integrated drug discovery project, including the development of neuroinflammation assays and the optimisation of our compounds’ target engagement in the brain.”

As part of the joint project, Domainex will conduct integrated drug discovery to improve the pharmaceutical properties found in the small molecules, with the end goal of developing a treatment that could slow or stop the progression of Parkinson’s.

Tom Mander, CEO of Domainex, said: “We are thrilled to have been selected by Parkinson’s UK to work on this promising project which has the potential to improve the lives of 145,000 people living with Parkinson’s in the UK.

“Domainex has built up significant expertise of working with several charities and patient foundations, including projects funded by the British Heart Foundation, CHDI Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. We look forward to working with the team at Parkinson’s UK and supporting the wider Parkinson’s community to progress the development of potentially life-changing medicines.”