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news.France-based biopharmaceutical firm Domain Therapeutics has established a new company, Mavalon Therapeutics, dedicated to develop a drug candidate to stop the progression of Parkinson’s disease.
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Life sciences-focused venture capital firm Medicxi Ventures has agreed to invest up to €9m in Mavalon.
Mavalon is developing an orally available small molecule able to induce Glial cell line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) production within the brain of Parkinson’s patients.
With the support of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Domain Therapeutics discovered and initially developed the drug candidate, a positive allosteric modulator of the metabotropic glutamate receptor type 3 (mGluR3 PAM).
It is the third Parkinson’s disease drug candidate discovered by Domain and developed further by an asset-centric firm.
Domain said an mGluR4 PAM is due to enter phase II at Prexton Therapeutics, while a dual adenosine A2A/A1 receptor antagonist is in preclinical development at Kaldi Pharma.
Both treatments address Parkinson’s symptoms while Mavalon’s drug is intended at halting the progression of the disease and at reversing its effects.
Domain Therapeutics CEO Pascal Neuville said Medicxi’s investment highlights the company’s expertise in the GPCR area and its ability to repeatedly select first-in-class drug candidates for major therapeutic indications.
“We are confident in the capacity of the Mavalon team to rapidly move this asset forward towards the clinical stage and make this promising treatment available to the Parkinson’s disease patient population.”
Domain is engaged in the discovery and early development of small molecules targeting G protein-coupled receptors .
The company identifies and develops new drug candidates, allosteric modulators and biased ligands, using its innovative approach and technologies.