About

Anacalypsis Therapeutics (PC) is an early-stage biotechnology company with the aim to offer patients who suffer from neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, novel disease-modifying therapies that block the progression of the disease, rather than simply target its symptoms. Our co-founders collectively have more than 40 years of complementary expertise in neurodegeneration. Supporting our core therapeutic R&D efforts, are parallel programmes focused on filling a critical gap in sensitive “biomarker” tools that allow more precise tracking of disease progression and, importantly, the early identification of high-risk individuals, to initiate treatment before the emergence of symptoms - when there is the greatest chance of therapeutic success.

Solution & Product

In order to achieve our goal, we believe that the drug discovery process should be linked to the development of novel biomarker tools that aid in our ability to identify and track patients who will benefit most from therapy. Our solution is to generate a therapeutic pipeline by identifying, validating and advancing promising new candidates that have the potential to halt or slow the progression of Parkinson's Disease. Our lead hit is showing great effectiveness in blocking the biological pathways of cell death in our preclinical models. In addition, we are developing sensitive tests for early detection, diagnosis and tracking progression of disease over time. For this, we have designed a multiplex ELISA-based ultra-sensitive biomarker assay that simultaneously measures different target proteins in various clinical samples, and a sensitive biomarker assay based on a novel PET tracer ligand, that targets the pathological proteins in the diseased brain before the appearance of symptoms. We believe that developing tools such as biomarker assays as well as PET tracer ligands, while also stand-alone revenue generating products, serve to boost both the effectiveness as well as the value of our therapeutic pipeline.

Innovation & Scalability

Parkinson's Disease is the fastest growing neurodegenarative disease, affecting approximately 10M people worldwide. By the time an individual is diagnosed, more than 50% of the dopaminergic neurons that help control our movement are lost. Aside from the impact of the disease on patients and their caregivers, there is an enormous economic burden, both in terms of direct medical costs and indirect costs. The annual economic burden of PD is more than $50B in the US alone. There are no disease-modifying therapies that can block or slow the progressive degeneration in the CNS that characterises PD. In addition, there are even fewer options for early detection of high-risk individuals who would benefit from initiation of treatment earlier, at the first signs of neurodegeneration. Our initial therapeutic target involves a gene (LRRK2) commonly linked to familial and sporadic PD. Although its genetic link to PD represents about 1% of all cases, making it the most common genetic cause, there is strong evidence linking it to most forms of the disease – therefore making this protein a potentially blockbuster therapeutic target. Our approach is focusing only on the pathologic action of this gene, leaving its normal function intact. Our ultimate goal is to partner with an established global pharmaceutical company with the infrastructure and reach to help transition our pre-clinical R&D activities to clinical trials and ultimately to the largest pool of potential patients.

Traction & achievements

Upon its establishment, in June 2019, Anacalypsis Therapeutics was accepted into the 7th round of the EGG enter-grow-go programme startup accelerator, a Eurobank CSR Initiative. Following this, in January 2021, Anacalypsis Therapeutics joined the ScaleUp program at EGG. In November 2022, we successfully applied for our first patent and in February of 2023 we will have submitted our second provisional patent application. At the start of 2023, we established our first private lab and established our first partnership agreement with Columbia University to use our unique biomarker tools to test patient and preclinical samples.

Team & Why Us

Our founding team has worked together in an academic research setting (BRFAA; Athens, Greece) for more than 10 years in the Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Diseases. Our CEO, Alexia Polissidis, PhD is a psychopharmacologist who established the Neurobehavioural Phenotyping facility at BRFAA and is an independently-funded Junior Team Leader; and Hardy Rideout, the CSO, has built a deep, internationally-recognized, expertise in neurodegenerative diseases. We are further supported by four brilliant Advisors on our Board of Directors and four Scientific Advisors (clinicians and basic researchers) for both Greece and the US. Why Us? Rather than attempt to block all activity of a target protein implicated in Parkinson's disease, including its normal function, we have identified a unique interaction with another protein that induces cell death and a highly specific approach to disrupt this toxic protein complex. This way, the normal activity of this protein is preserved. Our patient-centric approach has the potential to change the way we see and treat patients with neurodegenerative diseases, since our synergistic approach to biomarker-drug development boosts chances of identifying earlier high-risk patients and begin treatment before neurodegeneration becomes inevitable.

Funding Needs

Our funding strategy for the next few years is focused on completing the development of our initial lead therapeutic, as well as our companion biomarker and PET products. Our early financing came in the form of F&F/bootstrapping, and was dedicated almost entirely to the initial IP costs associated with our provisional application for the multiplexed biomarker assay. Next, the current funding we are seeking, our Seed round of approximately 2M €, will be dedicated to completion of the development of our biomarker and PET tracer, and importantly for the completion of the pre-clinical studies assessing the efficacy of our lead hit. Subsequently, we will seek a larger Series A round which will be dedicated to continuing our pre-clinical studies of the therapeutic candidate, expanding our pipeline, scientific and administrative hires, expansion of our IP portfolio, and critically – establishment of our private laboratory space.