MINDIMMUNE THERAPEUTICS TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON SPECIALIZED IMMUNE CELLS WITH PFIZER INC.
Kingston, RI — January 22, 2018 MindImmune Therapeutics Inc., a privately held drug discovery company that aims to pioneer a fundamentally new approach to treating neurodegenerative disease today announced a research agreement with Pfizer Inc., to study a previously unrecognized role for peripheral immune cells in the pathology of central nervous system disorders. Recent advances in human genetics have demonstrated that immune system dysfunction is a causative factor in brain disease (Nature Genetics 49:1373-84, 2017). In addition to the research to be conducted, Pfizer will invest in MindImmune through Pfizer’s Emerging Technologies Fund.
“We are delighted to have the support of Pfizer as we operationalize our unique immune cell platform, which we expect can help enable new therapies that have the potential to prevent damage to the brain,” stated Stevin Zorn, Ph.D., president and CEO of MindImmune. “This strategy has the potential to identify fundamentally new avenues of attack on diseases that have proven intractable to established paradigms in drug discovery research.”
About MindImmune – MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held drug discovery company founded in 2016 by veteran central nervous system drug discovery scientists Stevin Zorn, Ph.D., Frank Menniti, Ph.D., Robert Nelson, Ph.D., and Brian Campbell, Ph.D., formerly colleagues within Worldwide Research & Development at Pfizer. The company aims to develop first-in-class therapeutics that target the immune system to treat disorders of the central nervous system, targeting conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, depression, and neuropathic pain. MindImmune scientists are at the forefront in recognizing therapeutic opportunities in neuroimmunology and have extensive track records of success in neuroscience-based pharmaceutical research and development. Based at the University of Rhode Island, MindImmune benefits from an affiliation with the George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, Kingston, RI. Seed financing has been provided by the Slater Technology Fund, Providence, RI and private investors.