Novoron Bioscience Awarded NIH Grant for Research Into Alzheimer's Disease

Funding will advance the investigation of a novel therapeutic approach

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Novoron Bioscience, a San Diego-based biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapies to reverse central nervous system (CNS) damage, announced today that they have been awarded an NIA/NIH grant to advance their work into Alzheimer's Disease (AD), chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and other tauopathies. Funding will be used to test Novoron's technology for the ability to reduce the spread of tau that is characteristic of various tauopathies. This research will be done in collaboration with Dr. Kenneth S. Kosik from the University of California, Santa Barbara and Dr. Jennifer Rauch from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

"We were obviously very excited to learn of the amazing work done by Dr. Kosik, Dr. Rauch, and the rest of their team, identifying LRP1 as a central factor in tau pathology, which is relevant to several devastating diseases like Alzheimer's and CTE. As a company that has been working to develop LRP1 drugs for several years now, this is such an amazing opportunity to expand the impact of our platform," said Travis Stiles, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Novoron. 

Speaking on the project, Dr. Kosik said "The discovery of LRP1 as an essential factor underlying tau spread in the brain has far-reaching potential impacts for human disease, which is very exciting for us. Collaborating with Novoron gives us the rare opportunity to take our discovery and immediately begin trying to translate that work into novel treatments of disease. That doesn't happen often in science, and we are enthusiastically looking forward to what will come of our work together."

Dr. Rauch, the first author on the work that discovered the central role of LRP1 in tauopathy, will be conducting critical animal studies in her new lab at UM-Amherst. Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Rauch offered, "What makes this collaboration with Novoron interesting is our ability to combine their years of experience targeting LRP1 with our unique tauopathy model that allows us to test potential therapeutics in a matter of weeks as opposed to the months or years that other models require. The potential synergy is exciting, and I look forward to Novoron's collaboration to build on our previous work."

Tauopathy is a central aspect of several neurodegenerative conditions, many of which fall into some form of dementia such as Alzheimer's disease. Dementia is the term given to a collection of symptoms that result from disorders of the brain, and includes loss of memory, language issues and other cognitive problems that impact daily life.  It is an increasing problem worldwide, where it is estimated that more than 25 million people are affected.  Alzheimer's Disease is the most common condition that leads to dementia.  While the mechanism of AD remains unclear, accumulation of the cytoskeletal protein, tau, has been implicated as an important contributor to disease. By targeting the molecule that regulates the transport and spread of tau within the brain, Novoron aims to develop a novel therapeutic approach for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other tauopathies. 

About Novoron

Based in San Diego, California, Novoron Bioscience is a private biotechnology company that is focused on the development of novel therapeutics for central nervous system disorders. 

Media Contact: 
Brett Drummond
brett@mstranslate.com.au 
+61 439 636 279

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