Cognition Therapeutics Inc.'s mission is to develop effective therapeutics for Alzheimer's, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Down's syndrome. Recent scientific discoveries in the Alzheimer's disease field have identified oligomers of the brain protein Abeta 42 as toxic culprits in the disease process. Drugs that antagonize the binding of this toxic protein to neuronal receptors and block the downstream pathological signaling that inhibits memory formation should prevent further damage, and unmask existing memory capacity as synapses recover. Drugs that stop oligomer-induced damage are therefore hypothesized to be disease-modifying treatments that would be effective throughout the course of the disease, and significantly impact the lives of the millions of Alzheimer's patients. Pharmaceutical industry efforts targeted specifically at oligomer blockade are currently limited. Cognition Therapeutics is one of the only companies uniquely focused on discovery of small molecule receptor antagonists of toxic soluble oligomers. We have discovered a CNS drug-like lead series of oligomer receptor antagonists, CT0093. Analogs in this series reduce binding of oligomers to synapses and completely block Abeta oligomer-induced membrane trafficking changes and synapse loss. CT0093 also completely blocks oligomer-induced memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease mouse models. This proposal will allow us to expand our preliminary medicinal chemistry analoging efforts and optimize the CT0093 molecular scaffold with the goal of obtaining a disease-modifying IND candidate drug.

Public Health Relevance

Cognition Therapeutics Inc.'s mission is to develop effective therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment. We have discovered a CNS drug-like lead series CT0093 that blocks the binding of the toxic Abeta oligomer protein (believed to cause Alzheimer's disease) to cells in the brain. CT0093 prevents memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease mouse models. This proposal requests funding to further improve CT0093 and allow the continued advancement of this exciting candidate drug towards the clinic. Successful advancement of CT0093 would significantly impact the lives of the 35 million patient's worldwide suffering from AD and MCI, for whom no disease-modifying treatment exists.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Project--Cooperative Agreements (U01)
Project #
1U01AG047059-01
Application #
8605381
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZNS1)
Program Officer
Refolo, Lorenzo
Project Start
2014-05-15
Project End
2019-04-30
Budget Start
2014-05-15
Budget End
2016-04-30
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2014
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Cognition Therapeutics, Inc.
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15203