Belgian start-up takes fight on neuropathies
The new company, named Augustine Therapeutics, is a Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB) and Katholieke Universiteit (KU) Leuven spin-off. Funded with €4.2m from mainly local investors, Augustine's first priority is finding new therapeutics for patients suffering from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy of the peripheral nervous system.
Augustine was a famous patient of famous French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot Ward Capoen, Principal at V-Bio Ventures, told EuroBiotech when asked about the name of the new spin-off. However, she did not suffer from Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, a neuropathy named after Charcot as well as fellow French neurologist Pierre Marie and British neurologist Howard Henry Tooth – and the neuropathy Augustine Therapeutics will focus on first.
V-Bio Ventures is an independent venture capital firm specialised in building and financing young life sciences companies. Established in 2015, it works closely with Belgium-based VIB. Capoen added that V-Bio Ventures will remain involved in the management of the company until a dedicated management team for Augustine is recruited.
Behind the seed financing round of €4.2m, announced in mid-December, are VIB, V-Bio Ventures and PMV, joined by Advent France Biotechnology and Gemma Frisius Fund.
CMT disease is one of the most common hereditary disorders of the peripheral nervous system, affecting approximately 10 to 30 in 100,000 people globally. The disease is characterized by a progressive denervation of muscles, resulting in a slow decline of the patients day-to-day functioning. Patients develop foot deformities and gait difficulties, and also experience sensory abnormalities. While the current therapeutics market for CMT disease is limited to supportive management of symptoms, Augustine focuses on disease-modifying drug candidates, Capoen told EuroBiotech.
The scientific foundation of the newly formed company was laid in the VIB-KU Leuven labs of Ludo Van Den Bosch, Joris de Wit and Bart De Strooper. We uncovered several biological pathways in peripheral neuropathies that represent promising therapeutic targets for CMT disease. The validation and in-depth study of the underlying biology of these targets now provides a first-rate foundation for the development of novel therapeutics, said Van Den Bosch. The Augustine team did not specify on the therapeutic modality they currently work on. It is very likely that the start-up targets an epigenetic mechanism as Van Den Bosch said in June that selective inhibition of Histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) reverses the axonal transport defects and phenotypes observed in different models of CMT and other neuromuscular diseases. Interestingly, HDAC6 inhibition could also turn out to be a weapon against acquired chemotherapy-induced neuropathies.
Of the 16 VIB start-ups (number from 2015, see picture), Ablynx is arguably the most famous one. The drug developer was acquired by French pharma company Sanofi last year for €3.9bn.
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