HanAll, Daewoong to develop Parkinson's treatment with US partner

South Korea's HanAll Biopharma Co. and Daewoong Pharmaceutical on Thursday said they concluded a contract with NurrOn Pharmaceuticals of the US on joint development of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

NurrOn was founded by Harvard Medical School professors Kim Kwang-soo and Kim Deok-joong, both of whom are global authorities on Parkinson's. In 2021, HanAll and Daewoong participated in Series A investment in NurrOn.

Under the contract, HanAll and Daewoong will promote joint development of candidate drugs for treating degenerative neurological diseases like ATH-399A for Parkinson's, a candidate drug that NurrOn is doing R&D on. Parkinson's is caused by lack of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that connects signals between the brain and muscles and symptoms include tremors, muscle stiffness and gait disturbances.

ATH-399A has a mechanism to alleviate Parkinson's by protecting dopaminergic neurons, activating Nurr1, a protein factor that regulates dopamine production, and raising the hormone's levels in the body. It also alleviates symptoms by preventing nerve cell destruction caused by inflammation.

Phase 1 clinical trials of ATH-399A are scheduled this year.

The three companies will accelerate R&D of Parkinson's treatment while considering the possibility of expanding indications.

"We expect to create a synergistic effect by developing innovative new drugs with clinical experts from HanAll Biopharma and Daewoong Pharmaceutical," NurrOn CEO Kim Deog-joong said.

HanAll said it invests in bio companies with promising technologies to secure future growth engines. It started investing in NurrOn and Alloplex Biotherapeutics, a developer of new drugs for anti-cancer immune cell therapy, in 2021, Turn Biotechnologies, which has a cell reprogramming platform, last year and Interon Laboratories this year.

Write to Min Su Han at hms@hankyung.com