Amorfix gains rights to brain disease target

The protein superoxide dismutase-1 (SOD1) is known to misfold and aggregate in the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In addition to the licensing rights, the company also obtained an exclusive five-year option to acquire the intellectual property and know how surrounding the licensed technology. Amorfix will use these novel targets to initiate its therapeutic program for neurodegenerative diseases, beginning with ALS.

The SOD1 targets were discovered by Dr Neil Cashman, the company’s Chief Scientific Officer, in his former academic laboratory at the University of Toronto. The university subsequently assigned all rights to Dr Cashman who has licensed the technology to Amorfix.

“I have attended thousands of patients with ALS and have been frustrated at the lack of any effective therapy,” said Dr Cashman, who is also the Director of the ALS Centre at the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. “I am overjoyed to have finally defined a starting point for the development of a therapeutic solution for this debilitating disease.”

Amorfix has committed to invest a minimum of $300,000 on development of the technology under the terms of the license.