The Michael J. Fox Foundation Extends Funding for KineMed’s Brain-Process Biomarker Research for Parkinson’s Disease

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KineMed, Inc. (www.kinemed.com) announced today a further award of $1.2 Million from The Michael J. Fox Foundation towards the ongoing development of kinetic biomarkers that drug developers can use to accelerate and reduce the cost of trials of treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD).

“We are proud to be extending our work with The Michael J. Fox Foundation and thank the Foundation for this ongoing commitment which recognizes that the development of better biomarkers plays a key role in accelerating progress towards a cure for Parkinson’s disease”

“The lack of validated biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease is a major hurdle to PD drug development today and so, our Foundation is invested in this critical research,” said Mark Frasier, Ph.D., Vice President, Research Programs for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. “KineMed’s cross-sectional study will look to confirm existing data that we have funded, which has identified biomarkers that are sensitive to subtle changes early in the disease process.”

“We are proud to be extending our work with The Michael J. Fox Foundation and thank the Foundation for this ongoing commitment which recognizes that the development of better biomarkers plays a key role in accelerating progress towards a cure for Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. Patrizia Fanara, Ph.D., Vice President of Neuroscience, KineMed, “The current difficulty in advancing a cure is the pharmaceutical industry’s challenge to appraise the myriad proposed treatment strategies in concise, cost-effective trials. Our cerebrospinal fluid kinetic biomarkers measure the rate of neurodegeneration in PD patients within weeks, much sooner than any visible effect in disease progression. These fast readouts are stronger and more actionable, so can help companies decide quickly whether or not a drug is working and which patient is responding.”

KineMed’s neuro-biomarker program aims to develop robust, lead indicators of disease progression and regression through identifying and measuring relevant biochemical changes associated with pathology at the cellular level. These quantitative measures can replace cumbersome symptomatic measures that are sensitive to random fluctuation in the patient’s condition, which are hindering and expanding the cost of trials of CNS drugs in development today. The length and cost of developing a CNS drug is among the highest of any therapeutic area. A 2011 study by The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development reported that an average of 8.1 years was spent in human testing—more than two years longer and more than 50 percent longer in the regulatory approval stage compared with drugs on average. The study also reported that only 8.2 percent of CNS drug candidates that begin human testing reach the marketplace, compared with 15 percent for drugs overall. (Katin K. & Milne CP. Scientific American, August 9, p13, 2011)

KineMed leads the world in measuring dynamic biochemical processes important in the pathogenesis of the central and peripheral nervous system to identify and verify kinetic marker candidates. KineMed’s neuro-biomarker platform is unique, in that it reveals the kinetics of molecules through critical processes that drive neuronal dysfunction, disease progression and reparative processes. These biomarkers thereby predict outcomes and provide key information for disease-modifying drugs in development for neurological disorders.

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

As the world’s largest private funder of Parkinson’s research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson’s disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson’s patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding more than $297 million in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson’s research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; increases the flow of participants into Parkinson’s disease clinical trials with its online tool, Fox Trial Finder; promotes Parkinson’s awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world. Now through December 31, 2012, all new and increased giving to The Michael J. Fox Foundation, as well as gifts from donors who have not given since 2010 or earlier, will be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis with the $50-million Brin Wojcicki Challenge, launched by Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki.

For more information, visit: www.michaeljfox.org; www.facebook.com/michaeljfoxfoundation.

About KineMed, Inc.

KineMed, Inc. is a biomarker discovery and development company based in Emeryville, California. Our biomarkers provide predictive, actionable information to dramatically improve, de-risk and accelerate drug discovery, development and disease management decisions.

We assist pharmaceutical collaborators by revealing the mechanism of action of complex diseases and providing quantitative measures of the effects of drugs on these causal processes. KineMed’s biomarkers are uniquely translational from preclinical to clinical settings, and further apply to both the diagnosis and management of disease.

KineMed’s neuro-biomarker platform applies to every phase of the CNS drug development life cycle:

Candidate selection (Pre-Clinical/Discovery): Direct measurement of candidate effect on pathology
First-in-human studies (Phase 1a and 1b): Reduction of risk in pre-clinical to clinical translation
Proof of concept studies (Phase 2a): Reducing the time taken to reach an endpoint
Efficacy studies (Phase 3): Patient selection to maximize delta
Post-launch studies (Phase 4): Monitoring of efficacy

KineMed is seeking further broad collaborations with foundations, pharmaceutical, CRO, diagnostics, medical instruments and biotechnology partners in the CNS area.

For more information about KineMed, please visit: http://www.kinemed.com

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50324957&lang=en