Utilization of the Luminex Platform to Discover and Develop Dual Toll-like Receptor 2 and 9 Antagonists for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neuropore Therapies is discovering and developing novel small molecule disease-modifying therapeutics to treat patients with neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Due to a lack of validated clinical biomarkers for most neurodegenerative diseases, our early translational biomarker development strategy is necessarily based on evaluations of multivariate and multimodal measures in in vivo and in vitro preclinical target engagement and efficacy models. In this context, I will present our utilization of the Luminex MAGPIX® platform in an early preclinical discovery and development program evaluating dual toll-like receptor 2 and 9 antagonists for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Our Luminex-based multiplexed evaluations of cell-based screening systems and animal model or human derived samples is providing valuable information to guide program candidate molecule selection, target indication selection, and translational biomarker development.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify some of the challenges of developing disease-modifying therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases.

2. Explain what types of biomarkers are needed to overcome these challenges.

3. Discuss how Luminex platform based multiplexed evaluations are being used in preclinical studies to inform clinical development strategy for evaluating putative neurodegenerative disease-modifying therapeutics.