Could Fungi Compounds Combat Neurodegenerative Diseases?

Dr. Timsy Bhando — a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Professor Eric Brown in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University — has identified, extracted and characterized novel therapeutic compounds derived from fungi with potential medical applications.

KCB-100, a promising chemical agent for treating neurodegenerative diseases, emerged from Dr. Bhando’s research. These diseases are characterized by the deterioration of central nervous system cells. To date, studies have shown that KCB-100 supports neuron survival, promotes growth, and enhances synapse formation, suggesting potential for treating conditions such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and depression.

“KCB-100 exhibits excellent neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties and shows potential for enhancing neuroplasticity, making it an excellent candidate for treating such diseases,” says Dr. Bhando.

AI to Advance Drug Discovery

The project is led by Vancouver-based Kapoose Creek Bio, a start-up focused on accelerating the discovery and development of nature-derived drugs. The company recently expanded to Hamilton, Ontario, where it has established an artificial intelligence-powered drug discovery lab.

As part of this growth, Dr. Bhando has joined the team full-time to oversee preclinical testing of the fungal natural product in animal models.

“The reality is we’ve exhausted our ability to explore synthetic drug compounds in the lab — researchers are generating millions of molecules but they’re not making discoveries,” explains Dr. Bhando.

She notes that many effective drugs have historically come from fungi, including penicillin for bacterial infections, statins for reducing cholesterol levels, and cyclosporine for the prevention of organ rejection in transplant surgery.

Now, Kapoose Creek Bio is using its AI-powered platform, unEarth rx, to accelerate the discovery of similar nature-derived treatments by combining phenotypic screening with machine learning to identify promising drug candidates. The technology allows researchers to quickly pinpoint compounds with therapeutic potential and better understand their mechanisms of action.

Ongoing Research on Fungi

As part of her work in natural product discovery, Dr. Bhando has helped build a library of thousands of fungal extracts for future exploration. She credits Mitacs for providing the framework to accelerate her research and the essential support required to connect it with industry.

“We’re focusing our efforts on fungi as a source of new drugs because we believe nature makes the best medicine,” she adds.

In addition to identifying the KCB-100 lead compound, Dr. Bhando is working to optimize and characterize its therapeutic benefits.

“We’ve shown that this compound effectively crosses the blood-brain barrier, ensuring the drug will reach the brain,” she says. “We’re working to better understand the therapeutic benefits and improve its chemical properties so that it can best treat disease.”

In 2024, Dr. Bhando’s game-changing work earned her the Mitacs Innovation Award — Outstanding Innovation, recognizing her significant contributions to drug discovery and the potential of KCB-100 to revolutionize treatments for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.

Mitacs’s programs receive funding from multiple partners across Canada. We thank the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, the Government of Saskatchewan, and the Government of Yukon for supporting us to empower Canadian innovation.

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