Development of Neurotherapeutics from Lead Candidates

There is a critical need to develop new therapeutics for the treatment of chronic pain. In this partnership between Zymedyne Therapeutics and the Derksen Research lab at the University of Calgary, we will work to develop lead hit compounds to leads that can be put forward as clinical candidates. As many existing pain therapeutics, such as opioids, have serious side effects over extended use, this program aims to target Cav3.2 receptors with novel inhibitors. Although an established target for pain therapeutics, no inhibitors of these calcium channels have yet been approved for clinical use. This research partnership is based on advancing hit compounds and understanding their function so that they can be moved closer to the clinic. This work includes the development of scalable synthetic routes to drug candidates using modern organic chemistry methods, and the completion of structure-activity relationship studies to fully understand how the lead molecules work after they are administered.

Faculty Supervisor:

Darren Derksen

Student:

Partner:

Zymedyne Therapeutics Inc.

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of Calgary

Program: