New therapies for ALS and other brain diseases

A HOLD FreeRelease 1 | eTurboNews | eTN
Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

ProJenX, a New York City-based, clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel, brain-penetrant therapies targeting biologically-defined pathways for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other debilitating brain diseases, launched today. A $5.1M seed financing was led by Medical Excellence Capital, which created ProJenX in collaboration with Project ALS, a leading nonprofit organization committed to ALS research, and with renowned researchers at Columbia University. 

The company will use proceeds from the financing to fund early clinical development of its lead asset, prosetin, for the treatment of ALS, expand its leadership team, and advance additional preclinical programs in its pipeline. Prosetin, an oral, brain-penetrant, MAP4 kinase (MAP4K) inhibitor targeting endoplasmic reticulum stress, is the first investigational drug developed in a collaboration between researchers at the Project ALS Therapeutics Core—a drug discovery and development program led by researchers at Columbia’s Center for Motor Neuron Biology and Disease and its Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Center—and researchers from the Departments of Pathology & Cell Biology, Biological Sciences, and Chemistry at Columbia University.

ProJenX will build on the efforts initiated by Columbia and Project ALS to advance prosetin through ALS clinical trials with urgency, humanity, and scientific rigor. The company is named in honor of Project ALS founder Jenifer Estess, who was diagnosed with ALS at age 35. Valerie Estess, Project ALS Co-Founder and Director of Research, and ProJenX Co-Founder and Board Director, commented, “Since 1998, Project ALS has led aggressive, collaborative research to unlock the mysteries of ALS and the brain—the body’s most complex organ. We are immensely excited that ProJenX will take on the critical task of translating these hard-won discoveries to people with ALS—beginning with prosetin.”

Erin Fleming, Co-Founder and Senior Director of Operations at ProJenX, said, “Prosetin was developed out of a decades-long collaboration between the labs of Hynek Wichterle and Brent R. Stockwell at Columbia University and Project ALS to build more predictive models of ALS—and then use them to identify better treatments. We have seen promising effects of prosetin in a range of laboratory models and are hopeful for its potential to improve the lives of many people with ALS and other devastating neurological conditions.”

The company’s seed financing was led by Medical Excellence Capital, LLC, an early-stage life sciences venture fund that combines a proprietary global network of leading physician-scientists with a team of experienced investment professionals, company builders, and operators. Eric Heil, ProJenX Interim CEO and Medical Excellence Capital Managing Partner, commented, “Medical Excellence is delighted to have played a central role in the formation of ProJenX. Patients with ALS desperately need new therapies. We believe that the patient-specific, cell-based discovery platform at the heart of ProJenX’s approach is an exciting opportunity for the creation of transformative neuroscience medicines.”

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x
Share to...