Cyclarity Therapeutics: Revolutionizing Age-Related Disease Treatment through Unique Drug Design
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Dr. Matthew O'Connor from Cyclarity Therapeutics presented the company's approach to treating age-related diseases by targeting oxidized cholesterol, a toxic buildup that accumulates in blood vessels and the brain. Using engineered cyclodextrin molecules, their drug safely removes oxidized cholesterol to potentially reverse atherosclerotic plaque and address diseases like Alzheimer's. Clinical trials are underway in Australia with plans to expand globally, aiming to improve outcomes where current treatments can only slow disease progression.
Key takeaways
- Oxidized cholesterol accumulates with age and contributes to atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and other age-related conditions, representing a root cause that current treatments cannot address.
- Cyclarity's innovative drug uses paired cyclodextrin molecules engineered to selectively bind and remove oxidized cholesterol while leaving healthy cholesterol intact, working at the molecular level within 15 minutes.
- Phase 1 clinical trials in Australia with 72 healthy volunteers are progressing through cohorts, followed by Phase 2 trials with 150 patients with coronary artery plaque to measure safety, drug efficacy, and potential plaque reversal.
- The company employs a computational chemistry platform enhanced with AI and machine learning to design drugs targeting multiple toxic molecules beyond oxidized cholesterol, including applications in Alzheimer's, macular degeneration, and environmental toxins.
- Cyclarity's mission-driven team aims to 'save a billion lives' by identifying and removing age-related damage accumulation rather than merely slowing disease progression.
About Dr. Matthew O'ConnorDr. Matthew O'Connor is the former Vice President of Research at the Lifespan Research Institute (formerly SENS Research Foundation) and co-founder of Cyclarity Therapeutics, where he leads efforts to develop treatments targeting oxidized cholesterol and other toxic molecular accumulations.
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Program: Cyclarity Therapeutics: Revolutionizing Age-Related Disease Treatment through Unique Drug Design
Speaker: Dr. Matthew O'Connor
We bring you a new program every week on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education and how they contribute to service to others.
Our speaker this week, Dr. Matthew O'Connor, was awarded his master’s degree in neuroscience from Northwestern Medical in 1999 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Baylor College of Medicine in 2005. His doctoral and postdoctoral research includes work at Baylor College of Medicine and UC Berkeley on telomeres and muscle stem cells in aging. He is the former VP of Research at SENS Research Foundation (now Lifespan Research Institute), where he oversaw a broad swath of research projects spanning many aspects of rejuvenation biotechnology, from which he authored many papers and patents. Dr. O'Connor co-founded Cyclarity Therapeutics in 2019 to develop drugs targeting molecular toxins that accumulate with age in various cells and tissues. Their first drug product targets oxidized cholesterol in cardiovascular disease.
Cyclarity Therapeutics is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical startup committed to developing drugs to prevent and treat age-related diseases by addressing root causes - the buildup of toxic molecules that accumulate in the body over time. Their current target is atherosclerosis, the culprit behind most cardiovascular disease and stroke deaths worldwide. The company's first product, UDP-003, is a novel therapeutic which is able to bind and extract oxidized cholesterol from cells and tissues to restore their function. This therapeutic has the potential to not only prevent the accumulation of atherosclerotic plaque, but also to reduce plaque which has already accumulated - an ability never before achieved with drug treatment. It also has applications in a range of additional age-related conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases, stroke, age-related macular degeneration, and liver disease. Cyclarity recently launched its first-in-human Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Australia.
Cyclarity has also developed a computational platform for the design of specialized molecules to bind any target of interest. This platform was used to design UDP-003. The company incorporates AI and ML with the goal of automating the process of designing molecules for a range of uses, including anesthesia reversal in surgery, nanoplastic removal, and nutritional modifications for food products. The goal is to use this technology to design molecules to help people across various industries, from medicine to food to the environment, and beyond.
Members and guests, please welcome Dr. Matthew O'Connor!
To learn more, go to:
https://cyclaritytx.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/cyclarity/
https://m.facebook.com/Cyclarity/
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