Huron, a medical artificial intelligence (AI) corporations specializing in brain and nerve disorders, said on the 6th that it signed a business agreement with Dr. Park CDMO to develop a gene therapy for Parkinson's disease and began joint research.
According to the company, Dr. Park CDMO is a contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMO) corporations specialized in the production of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapies, and has manufacturing and production infrastructure with a 5,000-liter (L) capacity.
Under the agreement, Huron will use its imaging-based Parkinson's disease biomarker technology to handle patient selection, treatment response evaluation, and clinical imaging data analysis, and plans to serve as a biomarker-specialized CRO. Dr. Park CDMO will lead AAV-based gene therapy development and the overall nonclinical and clinical development.
The two companies' goal is to fundamentally slow or improve disease progression by simultaneously using the neurotrophic factor (GDNF), which helps the survival and functional recovery of dopaminergic neurons, and the GBA1 gene, which improves lysosomal dysfunction known as a major cause of Parkinson's disease.
Participating as the biomarker lead, Huron plans to establish strategies for imaging, quantitative, and digital biomarkers needed for phase 1 and 2 clinical trials and the expansion stage, and support operations. The company said, "Chief Executive Shin Dong-hun will serve as the clinical lead to oversee and coordinate the direction of clinical development," and "beyond simple image reading, we will build a data system that can quantify treatment effects and be used for clinical decision-making."
With this collaboration as a starting point, Huron plans to gradually expand its scope beyond supplying existing imaging diagnostic AI to an imaging biomarker-based CRO and clinical platform business that supports the development of therapeutics for brain and nervous system disorders.
Shin Dong-hun, CEO of Huron, said, "Based on our accumulated medical imaging AI analysis technology and our capabilities in early diagnosis and quantitative evaluation of Parkinson's disease, we will enhance the precision of clinical design and the likelihood of success in the development process of gene therapies, which are classified as high-risk and high-cost," adding, "This collaboration is an important starting point for Huron's expansion into the biomarker contract research organization (CRO) business."