NeuCyte and KIF1A.ORG Enter Collaboration Agreement
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San Carlos, California, USA, August 17th, 2021 – NeuCyte, Inc., an innovative biotech company focused on developing novel treatments for neurological disorders, today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with KIF1A.ORG.
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NeuCyte is joining the KIF1A.ORG community in its search for a treatment and cure for KIF1A-Associated Neurological Disorder (KAND). KAND is a progressive and sometimes fatal genetic disorder caused by mutations in the KIF1A gene that usually presents at birth or early in childhood. There is currently no treatment or cure, and scientists have so far limited understanding of the condition.The goal of the collaboration is to swiftly expand the characterization of KAND and create an accessible model for academic researchers and biotech companies to screen potential treatments for this devastating disease.This multi-module collaboration will be focused on utilizing NeuCyte’s proprietary human iPSC-based in vitro CNS disease modeling and assay development technology platform for establishing KAND cellular models with reproducibility and scalability.
“KIF1A.ORG, together with its community of collaborators, have been working hard to identify, utilizeand develop therapeutic candidatesfor KAND,” said Dr. Dominique Lessard, Chief Scientific Officer, KIF1A.ORG. “This research and development community urgently needs in vitro models that resembles human biology and can be used to quicklyscreen potential treatments with a translatable valueon an industrial level. We believe NeuCyte is one of the partners that can help us achieve this objective.”
“NeuCyte is committed to applying our powerful technology platform and know-how to developing breakthrough therapies for patients,” said Tao Huang, PhD, JD, President and Chief Executive Officer of NeuCyte. “We are honored to be a member of the KIF1A.ORG community and looking forward to contributing our best to understanding and curing KAND.”
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About NeuCyte, Inc
NeuCyte is a preclinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing impactful medicines for the treatment of neurological disorders. Based on its proprietary SynFire® technology for generating human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived induced neural cells, NeuCyte has developed a highly functional cell-based platform for target identification and validation, efficacy testing, in vitro disease modeling, and neurotoxicity assessment. With the vast knowledge brought by its staff and scientific advisory board, NeuCyte is actively pursuing drug discovery and development programs for Epilepsy, Fragile X Syndrome, Alzheimer’s Disease, ALS and more.
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For more information, visit https://www.neucyte.com.
About KIF1A.ORG
KIF1A.ORG is a global community dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by KIF1A Associated Neurological Disorder and accelerating research to find a cure. KAND is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by mutations in the KIF1A gene and causes a constellation of medical challenges, including spastic paraplegia, epilepsy, intellectual disability, optic nerve atrophy, cerebellar atrophy, peripheral neuropathy, and autism. Commonly a pediatric-onset disorder, KAND has a progressive course and can cause severe, life-threatening complications. In addition to family support and patient advocacy, KIF1A.ORG powers collaborative and translational research to rapidly discover treatment for this generation of KAND patients. KIF1A.ORG manages several programs to de-risk and accelerate therapeutic development, including the KIF1A Research Network, direct research funding and open access tools for development, such as natural history data, disease models, biomarkers and outcome measures.
For more information, visit www.kif1a.org.
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Contact Information:
Dominique Lessard, PhD
NeuCyte, Inc
319 North Bernardo Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043