CHDI Foundation, Inc. and Lundbeck today announced a research collaboration to investigate a targeted therapy for Huntington's disease (HD). Currently, no treatment exists to slow or halt the progression of HD, a challenging hereditary neurodegenerative disease characterized by a triad of behavioral, cognitive, and motor symptoms.
“We look forward to working with this distinguished group of scientists who share our dedication to the HD community”
As part of the collaboration CHDI will conduct pre-clinical studies on a Lundbeck investigative compound. Research will focus on the compound's effect on P2X receptors that may be involved in HD. The study results will influence future research into this and other compounds for HD.
"One of our important functions at CHDI is to seek out promising research ideas in the HD field, and this includes this interesting new work on Lundbeck's compound. Lundbeck is well established in central nervous system drug research and development, and we're looking forward to tapping their expertise," noted Ignacio Munoz-Sanjuan, Vice President, Translational Biology at CHDI. "Lundbeck has a proven track record of not only bringing new therapies to market but also working to support the needs of their patient communities. We hope this research collaboration provides a stepping stone for future therapies that slow the progression of HD."
CHDI is a privately-funded, not-for-profit biomedical research organization that works with an international network of scientists to discover and develop therapies for HD. The organization actively enables HD research by collaborating with research organizations and pharmaceutical companies conducting promising research, often providing financial support. CHDI activities include exploratory biology, clinical studies and trials, and educational workshops. Cooperation is key to finding therapies for HD, which is why CHDI works with a variety of researchers within the HD research community.