Oss, April, 3rd, 2015 – NTRC today announced that it has received an award from The Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research to conduct research on inhibitors of tryptophan-2,3-dioxygenase (TDO), a new treatment option for Parkinson’s disease. TDO is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of tryptophan, an essential amino acid that is used for protein synthesis and the production of neurotransmitters. Aberrant tryptophan catabolism has been implicated in the development of Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system. Inhibition of TDO expression by RNA interference techniques has been shown to decrease the accumulation of protein deposits during the development of neurodegenerative disease in animal models (see link). NTRC will validate this concept using small molecule compounds in a collaboration with Utrecht University (see link) and has screened two small molecule compound libraries at the Pivot Park Screening Centre in Oss (see link), to identify chemical starting points for drug discovery program on TDO. In the project supported by The Michael J. Fox Foundation, NTRC will optimize one of the compound series it has identified by ultra-high throughput screening into a lead molecule suitable for testing in a Parkinson’s disease model.

NTRC is a biotech company based at the Pivot Park in Oss, The Netherlands. NTRC (Netherlands Translational Research Center B.V.) develops scientific ideas into small molecule drug candidates, using its proprietary technology platforms Oncolines™, SynergyFinder™, ResidenceTimer™ and NFK GreenScreen™. For more information, see the website of NTRC: www.ntrc.nl, or send an e-mail to info@ntrc.nl.