About

We are developing First-in-Class small molecules and innovative platforms to address unmet medical needs of major diseases. We are focusing on Parkinson's dosease (PD) and cancer. We are targeting Nurr1:RXRa to activate it as a novel treatment for PD and KRAS4B to inhibit it for cancer therapeutics. The decrease of Nurr1 has been both genetically and clinically linked to PD, while KRAS4B hyperactivation induced by its mutations is oncogenic and it accounts for several cancer types. We have formed a team with excellent academic researchers and ex-international pharma executives to bring our products to clinical trials. Currently, we are developing proprietary leads to clinical candidates securing the chemical space, while we are building the first comprehensive patient cancer organoid biobank towards personalized cancer medicine. So far regarding traction, we have achieved several lines of external international validation, with 1st prizes and awards in Europe and Switzerland, as well as through established interest from VCs and the pharmaceutical industry.

Solution & Product

We have developed 3rd generation agonists of Nurr1:RXRα receptor that have pleiotropic neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects in the brain in vivo. We aim to identify our clinical candidates and enter clinical trials for PD in 2026. In parallel, we evaluate specialized chemical libraries of antagonists of the KRAS4B oncoprotein, using advanced biophysical excellence and AI in patient cancer organoids to identify the optimal lead molecules for further development towards clinical trials for colorectal, lung and pancreatic cancer. Finally, we aim to translate the patient cancer organoid technology to the first cancer organoid biobank in Greece, providing an invaluable resource for personalized medicine and accelerating the certification of anticancer therapies.

Innovation & Scalability

Our innovation lies on distincrt facts regarding our programs: I. Nurr1:RXRa: 1) We have advanced molecules with drug-lile characteristics that show multiple efficacy in-vivo in several mouse models. 2) We have de-risked the project, by showing efficacy in human neurons, by performing key toxicolology studies in mice, and by identifying biomarkers of efficacy that could be used in clinical trials. 3) We have designed a compettive regulatory clinical strategy. II. KRAS4B: 1) We have unique biphysical findings on the physiologically relevant nanoclusters and 2) highly specific library of compounds. 3) We are using patient cancer organoids to evaluate the efficacy of our molecules.

Traction & achievements

SyNoesis has achieved important distinctions in the international market, the most important being the award from the Swiss organization BaseLaunch for its therapeutic development program as of particular interest to the pharmaceutical industry in 2020, the 1st prize in 2018 from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology as the most innovative biotech company in Europe, the 1st prize of the pharmaceutical stakeholder Nuvisan in 2023 as having the most interesting drug development program for neuroinflammation, while it has received 2 Seals of Excellence in Horizon.

Team & Why Us

Dr Spathis is the founder and CEO of SyNoesis Therapeutics. He is leading the drug development program on Nurr1:RXRa agonists and KRAS4B inhibitors. Through his leadership, SyNoesis achieved substantial international traction. Dr Talianidis is the Chief Scientific Officer of SyNoesis. He has extensive expertise on nuclear receptors and cancer biology, while he has a long experience on the debvelopmetnof patient cancer organoids. He oversees the scientific progress of the projects of SyNoesis. Dr Gkouridis is the Director of Biophysics of SyNoesis. He is an expert on advanced biophysical technology that he uses to guide the drug development programs of SyNoesis. We are collaborating with Dr Domling (ERA-chair and ERC-consolidator) for our Medicinal Chemistry programs, and Dr Neochoritis (Associate Professor in the University of Crete) for the organic synthesis of our molecules. As conultants from the pharmaceutical industry, we have Dr Marcus Goebel that ie te ex-managing Director of the Global Novartis Fund, and Dr Peter Sennhen that was the Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Boehringer Ingelheim.

Funding Needs

SyNoesis is seeking for a 3-year operational round: NURR1:RXRa: €1.95M to IND-enabling (1M-First Tranche) + 1.7M to Phase 1 Clinical Trials KRAS4B: t €1.1M to pre-clinical lead identification Biobank of patient cancer organoids: €1.2M