To discover and develop innovative molecules for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's. This is the mission pursued by Accure Therapeutics, a biotech located in the Barcelona Science Park (PBC) which, based on molecules that have not yet been tested in humans, leads the different clinical trials so that new drugs can reach the market. Specifically, the company focuses on the development of treatments for diseases of the central nervous system, pathologies for which there is still "a great void of drugs on the market," defends the biotechnology's project director, Roger Prades.
However, the company is only responsible for discovering these new molecules and, once clinical trials have been completed, it "passes the baton" to a pharmaceutical company to begin the commercialization of these treatments for central nervous system diseases. Currently, the company is developing its second drug (ACT-02), focused on the treatment of Parkinson's. An innovative and novel treatment since all existing medications for this disease are symptomatic, that is, they serve to control or treat a specific symptom of the pathology, but, in contrast, they are not capable of altering the progression of the disease or even stopping its degeneration. "Parkinson's is a complex disease, in which there is not just one altered mechanism or pathway, but rather it is a vicious circle where several parts are altered, so its treatment must be multifactorial," says Prades.
Precisely, the drug they are developing aims to attack various targets to treat this disease. It is a drug, administered orally to the patient once a day, capable of inhibiting prolyl endopeptidase (PREP), with the potential to stop the worsening of this disorder. This medication is in an advanced preclinical phase, so in a year it could begin to be tested first in healthy humans, to demonstrate its safety and people's tolerance to the drug, and subsequently in Parkinson's patients, before its commercialization can begin.
To carry out these regulatory trials, according to European and American regulations, the biotechnology company has received a grant of 1.12 million dollars (almost one million euros) from the organization of American actor Michael J. Fox (Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research), who was prematurely diagnosed with this disease. This grant is complemented by 480,000 euros contributed by the FNR BRIDGES program, managed by the Fonds National de la Recherche de Luxembourg (FNR). With this funding, and the forecast to start trials in 2026, the distribution of this drug could begin in 2027 or 2028, at which point the company would seek a pharmaceutical company interested in commercializing the product.
However, the company Accure Therapeutics could reach agreements with a distributing company even before completing the corresponding clinical trials. This was the case for the first drug they developed (ACT-01), for which a license agreement for exclusive commercialization was signed in 2022 with the Swiss biopharmaceutical company Oculis. It is a neuroprotector that was originally designed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, but which also can be applied to protect the optic nerve against conditions such as acute optic neuritis or glaucoma, preventing chronic vision loss. Thus, the drug is administered intravenously to patients with these conditions and helps stop the deterioration of visual acuity.
In addition to these drugs, Accure Therapeutics is also in the development phase of a third drug (ACT-03) for the treatment of post-traumatic epilepsy. Unlike treatments already on the market, this one does not aim to prevent or treat seizures, but rather is a drug to stop epileptogenesis, that is, the process by which a brain, which until now had not shown epileptic signs, develops this disorder after a traumatic event, substance intoxication, or high fever.
"This is an innovative approach, as the treatment can not only be applied to people who already suffer from epilepsy and for whom existing anticonvulsant drugs do not work, which is 30% of cases, but it can even serve to prevent this disorder," Prades defended. For this drug, the company Accure Therapeutics has received a grant of one million euros from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of the Government through its State Plan for Scientific, Technical and Innovation Research 2021-2023 program.
The company Accure Therapeutics was born in 2020 ---from the integration of Iproteos, a spin-off of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), and Bionure, a spin-off of the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)--- and settled in the laboratories of the Barcelona Science Park (PCB). For its foundation, the company closed a financing round of 7.6 million euros led by Alta Life Sciences and backed by the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI).