PharmaKure, a clinical stage pharmaceutical company specializing in precision medicines for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases, has entered into a new epigenetics collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University. This partnership aims to investigate ‘gene-based environmental biomarkers,’ or epigenetic markers, to calculate risk scores for Alzheimer’s disease. The collaboration, coupled with PharmaKure’s blood-based biomarker ALZmetrixTM, is expected to enhance the efficacy of current Alzheimer’s diagnostics.
The joint study seeks a deeper understanding of Alzheimer’s Disease to identify individuals at higher risk, enabling timely interventions in the disease progression. Professor Gavin Reynolds from Sheffield Hallam University, an expert in neurotransmitter systems and epigenetics effects in neuro diseases, emphasized the importance of uncovering abnormal epigenetic changes associated with brain diseases, which could be modifiable with medications.
Dr. Helene Fachim, a Neuroscientist at PharmaKure, emphasized the role of mental health and environmental factors in the development of brain diseases. Influences such as trauma and chronic stress can induce epigenetic changes to DNA, potentially leading to various psychiatric and neurological disorders. The collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University focuses on identifying Alzheimer’s Disease (AD)-specific epigenetic factors.
Dr. Fachim highlighted the goal of utilizing these epigenetic approaches to enhance the understanding of AD, enabling the stratification of an individual’s risk for its development. This could pave the way for preventive measures or the early administration of AD drugs when they are most effective. As AD is a multifactorial disease influenced by environmental factors, the study aims to uncover differential methylation in specific target genes related to AD, potentially leading to the validation of an epigenetic predictive risk score for cognitive impairment and AD.
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