Rumi Scientific and X-Chem Collaborate to Advance Lead Candidate in Huntington’s Disease Research
Wednesday, December 06, 2023
Rumi Scientific, a company focused on developing therapies for rare and neurodegenerative diseases using its high throughput organoid phenotypic screening platform, has announced a collaboration with X-Chem, a leading player in early-stage drug discovery solutions. The partnership aims to facilitate the development of a lead candidate BRD9 inhibitor for the treatment of Huntington's Disease (HD).
Rumi Scientific has identified bromodomain 9 (BRD9), an epigenetic reader, as a promising therapeutic target for HD, showing potential in modifying the progression of the disease. Successful validation of this target has been achieved in the R6/2 model of HD and various cellular models replicating aspects of the HD phenotype. Notably, reducing BRD9 levels has demonstrated the ability to restore striatal volume, a significant observation suggesting disease-modifying potential.
Allen Fienberg, PhD, CEO of Rumi Scientific, stated, "BRD9 inhibition is a novel target for the treatment of HD identified by our proprietary high throughput organoid phenotypic screening platform. We have demonstrated in vitro that BRD9 inhibition rescues several biochemical dysfunctions associated with HD, indicating potential disease modification. We look forward to collaborating with the X-Chem team on developing the lead molecule and advancing it towards clinical studies."
X-Chem, a renowned drug discovery Contract Research Organization (CRO), specializes in developing brain-permeable compounds within the bromodomain class. Leveraging cutting-edge screening, computational chemistry, machine learning, synthesis, and process development, X-Chem aims to advance promising lead compounds with a focus on quality through multi-parameter optimization. Rumi and X-Chem will collaboratively design a screening cascade to maximize speed, efficiency, predictive accuracy, and translational validity, combining Rumi's expertise in HD assays at the cellular and tissue levels.
"We are excited to partner with Rumi Scientific in their pursuit of a lead candidate BRD9 for HD," said Dr. Matt Clark, CEO of X-Chem. "Rumi Scientific's profound understanding of HD biology and their innovative drug discovery platform make them an ideal partner. We are particularly excited about the unique promise of the Rumi platform and its potential to discover additional novel targets that we can take to the next level."
Source: globenewswire.com
