Selonterra, a biotechnology company developing therapies for neurodegenerative disorders, has announced a $2.5 million grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to help link novel targets to clinical dysfunctions in Parkinson’s disease and optimize the body’s small molecules toward clinical candidates.

Selonterra focuses on neurodegenerative disorders with strong genetic links. Selonterra’s team discovered that DNA changes associated with key genetic determinants in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases control the expression of genes in their chromosomal vicinity. The latter genes are the true mediators of these diseases and offer novel, unexploited targets for therapy development. The funding will enable the company to use shared common pathways in the neurodegenerative disorders and develop small molecules with the potential to profoundly change Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease therapies.

“The contribution of genetics to Parkinson’s disease is undisputed,” said Selonterra founder and president Anne Urfer-Buchwalder. “In contrast to an involvement of the proteins encoded by these genetic variants, our focus on the DNA sequence and the genes that these DNA variants control offers fundamentally different therapeutic opportunities.”

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