LucyTx announces additional $12.5m research funding for neurological diseases

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease are responsible for more than 30 million cases globally

Lucy Therapeutics (LucyTx) has announced it has raised $12.5m in additional funding to develop potentially new drugs and advance the company’s research programmes for neurological diseases.

The funding, provided by existing investors, Engine Ventures and Safar Partners, with recent participation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation and £1.6m from Parkinson’s UK’s Biotech programme, brings the company’s total funding to $36m.

The new project aims to develop novel therapies that are based on mitochondrial small-molecule treatments and diagnostic biomarkers for Alzheimer’s (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), as well as continue the development of a novel drug target for Rett syndrome, a rare genetic neurological and developmental disorder that affects brain development.

AD and PD are the two most common neurodegenerative diseases worldwide, affecting around 24 million and ten million people, respectively.

Using LucyTx’s platform, the team will analyse a variety of disease drivers central to disease progression, including mitochondrial, environmental and genetic factors, to create a detailed knowledge map for the disease and to uncover common underlying biological pathways to address drug targets.

The mitochondria are responsible for communication between cells, delivering the energy needed to live and directing cell growth and death. In PD, the mitochondria become damaged in the brain, leading to cell death.

LucyTx has developed molecules that target a key protein within the mitochondria to improve its function and prevent the death of brain cells by reducing levels of alpha-synuclein, a protein that builds up in PD and causes damage to dopamine-producing brain cells.

The new funding will help advance further testing to get closer to clinical trials while potentially providing a treatment to save dying brain cells and stop the progression of PD.

Amy Ripka, founder and chief executive officer, LucyTx, commented: “This latest funding will advance our work pioneering a new class of therapeutics designed to address mitochondrial dysfunction and provide potentially curative treatments for people suffering from AD, PD and Rett syndrome.”