Benzinga | Mar 8, 2021 08:04AM EST

Cortexyme Partners With Parkinson Study Group To Form Advisory Board

-- Partnership with Parkinson Study Group Advisory Panel to collaborate on Parkinson's Disease Program --

-- Presentation at AD/PD(tm) 2021 Underscores Relevance of Cortexyme's Approach --

Cortexyme, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on Alzheimer's and other degenerative diseases, announced that it has partnered with the Parkinson Study Group (PSG) to form an Advisory Board to leverage the group's expertise and further develop the company's Parkinson's disease (PD) program. In addition, Cortexyme will present new data further demonstrating the role of Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) in the development of Alzheimer's disease at AD/PD(tm) 2021, the 15th International Conference on Alzheimer's & Parkinson's Diseases, which is being held virtually March 9-14, 2021.

Hubert Fernandez, M.D., Co-Chair of the Parkinson Study Group Executive Committee and Chair of the PSG Credentialing Committee, and a member of the newly created Advisory Board, stated: "I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Advisory Board. We are collectively eager to further understand the mechanism of gingipain inhibition and its potential to improve the lives of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. There is a tremendous unmet medical need for PD, and the potential link between P. gingivalis and PD demands further exploration."

Along with Fernandez, the new Cortexyme/PSG Advisory Board is comprised of expert researchers across the PD field:

* Patrik Brundin, M.D., Ph.D., Honorary Guest to the PSG

* Eric Macklin, Ph.D., PSG Executive Committee Member

* Zoltan Mari, M.D., Co-Chair of the PSG Motor Features of PD Working Group

* Andrew Siderowf, M.D., PSG Executive Committee Member

"Our partnership with the PSG demonstrates the importance of Cortexyme's evidence to date and the potential to benefit patients suffering from Parkinson's disease," said Michael Detke, M.D., Ph.D., Cortexyme's Chief Medical Officer. "We are pleased to partner with the PSG and look forward to advancing our work in Parkinson's disease as we make progress towards improving patient outcomes."

Mounting evidence supports the role of P. gingivalis in Parkinson's disease, including research supporting the epidemiological link between periodontal disease and Parkinson's disease and rodent studies demonstrating that oral P. gingivalis infection causes alpha-synuclein production and degeneration of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain. For further details, visit www.cortexyme.com/science.

AD/PD 2021 Presentation Furthers Link Between P. gingivalis and Neurodegeneration

Cortexyme will also present research (poster 131/abstract 1544) at AD/PD 2021 further reinforcing Cortexyme's foundational research on P. gingivalis' role in AD and new techniques to detect the presence of P. gingivalis in the human brain.

In the poster, scientists at the University of Auckland and Cortexyme report new techniques to determine the ultrastructural localization of the arginine-gingipain (Rgp) virulence factor secreted by P. gingivalis in the human AD brain using electron microscopy. The researchers will report on the intracellular organelles in AD brain cells that Rgp co-localizes with, providing insight for the first time on why some sub-cellular organelles in AD neurons and astrocytes are damaged.

"This research adds to the growing body of evidence that shows the presence of gingipains in the human AD brain and the validation of new electron microscopy techniques that can be leveraged for future research into sub-cellular localization of gingipains within neurons and astrocytes," said Stephen Dominy, M.D., Cortexyme's Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer.

View the abstract "Ultrastructural localization of Porphyromonas gingivalis RgpB virulence factor in the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) of the Alzheimer's disease human brain" here on Cortexyme's website following the conference.