Eisai and Wren Therapeutics Enter into Exclusive Collaboration to Develop Novel Small Molecule Therapies Targeting α-Synuclein for Synucleinopathies

TOKYO, Dec. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; CEO: Haruo Naito; hereinafter referred to as “Eisai”) and Wren Therapeutics Ltd. (Headquarters: Cambridge, UK; hereinafter referred to as “Wren”) recently announced that they have signed an exclusive research collaboration agreement aimed at advancing the development of a novel small-molecule drug targeting alpha-synuclein for the treatment of synucleinopathies, including Parkinson’s disease and dementia with Lewy bodies.

Wren Therapeutics possesses an innovative, network dynamics-based drug discovery platform capable of precisely quantifying the inhibitory effects of small-molecule drugs on protein misfolding and aggregation signaling pathways, which are the pathological mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases. Wren’s research focus on synucleinopathies is centered on discovering novel small-molecule inhibitors that can selectively modulate the aggregation process of alpha-synuclein, a process implicated in the onset and progression of synucleinopathies. This collaboration will leverage Wren’s network dynamics-based drug discovery platform and Eisai’s extensive experience in neurodegenerative disease drug discovery to accelerate the development of clinical therapeutic candidates for synucleinopathies.

Dr. Samuel Cohen, CEO of Wren Therapeutics, commented, “We are delighted to establish this partnership with Eisai. Eisai has achieved remarkable success in the pharmaceutical industry, and the entire company is committed to providing innovative medicines for patients with neurodegenerative diseases. We believe that by combining Wren’s unique predictive and quantitative analytics platform with Eisai’s deep expertise in neurological disorders, both parties can jointly accelerate the development of small-molecule drugs targeting alpha-synuclein, for the treatment of debilitating diseases caused by protein misfolding, such as Parkinson’s disease.”

Dr. Teiji Kimura, Vice President and Chief Discovery Officer of the Neurological Disease Research Business Division at Eisai, commented, “Given the current absence of effective disease-modifying therapies for synucleinopathies such as dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease, there is a substantial and urgent unmet medical need in the market for treatments targeting these conditions. The aggregation of alpha-synuclein oligomers and protein misfolding are key pathological features of these diseases. Wren’s team is currently collaborating with world-renowned scientists to develop a disruptive novel therapy for protein misfolding disorders. By leveraging the combined strengths of both companies, we anticipate that this exciting collaboration will pave a unique path toward successfully identifying new disease-modifying therapies for patients with dementia with Lewy bodies, Parkinson’s disease, and other related disorders.”