Vesper Bio, a clinical-stage biotech company based in Copenhagen, has secured a grant of approximately $873K from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF). Specializing in sortilin receptor biology, Vesper Bio develops orally administered, small molecule sortilin inhibitors, particularly focusing on their potential to elevate central progranulin levels for treating central nervous system diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. The funding will be utilized to assess the efficacy of sortilin inhibitors in treating Parkinson’s disease. The company is committed to advancing research that may prevent, stop, or delay disease progression, addressing unmet medical needs in individuals with Parkinson’s.
Vesper Bio specializes in sortilin receptor biology. They develop orally administered, small molecule sortilin inhibitors, focusing on elevating progranulin levels to potentially treat central nervous system diseases, including Parkinson’s. The company recently secured a $873,000 grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation to assess the efficacy of sortilin inhibitors in Parkinson’s treatment. The grant falls under MJFF’s Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program (Pre-Clinical), which supports promising therapeutic developments addressing unmet medical needs in Parkinson’s patients.
The grant was awarded under the MJFF’s Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program (Pre-Clinical). The program seeks to advance preclinical testing of promising therapeutic developments that address unmet medical needs in people with Parkinson’s disease. The program is set up to fund therapeutic development with a clear focus to prevent, stop, or delay disease progression or to reduce the challenges of daily symptoms.
Vesper is currently expediting the development of VES001 for FTD(GRN) through ongoing Phase I studies that will include a Phase Ib Proof-of Concept in GRN mutation carriers in advance of potentially registrational Phase II/III trials, and for Phase I readiness of VES002, a treatment focused on a second central nervous system indication.
Anders Nykjaer, MD, PhD Chief Scientific Officer of Vesper Bio, commented, “Vesper has developed orally administered, small molecule, sortilin inhibitors that elevate central progranulin levels and these hold promise for treating certain CNS diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. This grant by The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program will support our research as we look to further demonstrate the efficacy of this novel therapy against this terrible disease.”
Jessica Tome Garcia, PhD, Associate Director, Translational Research at MJFF, said, “MJFF greatly values research into the biological underpinnings of Parkinson’s disease and leveraging that insight for new treatment ideas. We are proud to fund the work of researchers at Vesper Bio as they investigate new ways to fulfil the unmet needs of people with Parkinson’s.”
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