Due to a gene mutation that causes abnormalities in the production of a protein, Huntington’s disease is a neurodegenerative condition that progressively leads to psychiatric, cognitive, and motor disorders, until the patient’s death. As reported by France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes , this pathology is currently incurable, but a promising treatment is currently being developed in Grenoble (Isère).
Within the Institute of Neuroscience, the start-up HuntX Pharm is working on a synthetic molecule, called HX127, which would be able to artificially reconstruct the part of the nervous system damaged by Huntington’s disease. This molecule is currently being tested on neurons taken from mouse embryos, but researchers hope to soon move up a gear.
A first round of fundraising
“We are currently in the preclinical phase explains Frédéric Saudou, who studied this pathology for 30 years before co-founding HuntX Pharm in December 2022. We are aiming to be certain that this molecule is not toxic and we hope to move quickly into clinical phases with patients, within a few years.”.
The young company will first have to prepare for its first fundraising round, totaling 750,000 €, in order to continue testing and verify the effectiveness of the treatment. If all trials are successful, this treatment could reach the market within about ten years, according to scientists. This brings hope to the approximately 18,000 French people affected by this disease.
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2023-12-11 19:25:50
