VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 21, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SOLVE FSHD, a venture-philanthropy organization catalyzing the pace of innovation to accelerate a cure for FSHD, announced today an investment of US$3 million in Altay Therapeutics; a company focused on developing lifesaving therapies by targeting disease-causing transcription factors. This investment will support Altay Therapeutics’ unique approach to finding an inhibitor of DUX4, a key transcription factor implicated in FSHD, that could provide an effective disease-modifying treatment.
“We are excited to partner with Altay Therapeutics and help accelerate the discovery and development of much-needed therapies for FSHD. Altay Therapeutics’ unique platform technology will help to identify and accelerate novel and targeted treatments for FSHD,” says Dr. Eva Chin, Executive Director, SOLVE FSHD. “SOLVE FSHD’s targeted investment into Altay Therapeutics will support the company’s growth and will help identify a DUX4 inhibitor for clinical trials. This marks an integral step in executing on Founder Chip Wilson’s vision of being a catalyst to a cure for FSHD,” says Dr. Eva Chin, Executive Director, SOLVE FSHD.
“We are honoured to work with SOLVE FSHD and Dr. Chin to fast-track our research and to collaborate to find a cure for FSHD. Our focused research will not only support those who suffer from this rare disease but could enhance the health of all aging humans,” says Dr. Ali Ozes, Co-Founder and CEO, Altay Therapeutics.
Altay Therapeutics’ Board of Directors will be led by Mr. Eric Bjerkholt, Chairman, with Dr. Eva Chin, Executive Director for SOLVE FSHD and Dr. Ali Ozes, Co-Founder and CEO of Altay Therapeutics, as directors.
Mr. Bjerkholt holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and an Economics Degree from the University of Oslo in Norway. He brings over 25 years of leadership experience in finance, corporate strategy and operations in the healthcare and biotechnology industries. Mr. Bjerkholt is Chinook Therapeutics Inc.’s CFO and serves on several Boards of publicly traded companies.
Dr. Eva Chin was appointed as the inaugural Executive Director for SOLVE FSHD and has more than 25 years of experience in biomedical research, including the discovery and clinical development of muscle-targeted therapies for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and myasthenia gravis (MG).
Dr. Ozes Co-Founded Altay Therapeutics with his father, Dr. Osman Ozes, in 2019 and under his leadership, Altay was accepted into the prestigious accelerator for start-ups, Y-Combinator. Using their platform technology, they discovered three first-in-class inhibitors, one of which targeted DUX4, a key driver of FSHD. The vision for Altay Therapeutics is to be a leader in targeting disease-causing transcription factors and extend the lifespan of patients suffering from debilitating diseases.
About Solve FSHD
SOLVE FSHD, based out of Vancouver, BC, is funding innovative biotech and biopharma research and development activities that accelerate novel treatments of Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) treatment. It is fully funded and created by Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Chip Wilson, the founder of technical apparel company lululemon athletica inc. Chip has been living with FSHD for the past three decades of his life. He has committed $100 million of his own money to create SOLVE FSHD and kick-start funding into projects that fit the organization’s mission to accelerate research into new therapies and find a cure for the disorder by 2027. https://solvefshd.com/
For early-stage companies, contact Solve FSHD at info@solvefshd.com.
If you have FSHD and want to find out about clinical trials or be included in the FSHD registry, please see Solve FSHD’s website - https://solvefshd.com/
About Altay Therapeutics
Altay Therapeutics is a team of scientists with expertise in transcription factor biology and clinical drug development, whose integrated approach to drug development includes biochemical assays, next-generation computational biology and chemoproteomics. Altay Therapeutic’s mission is to develop more specific and safer therapies to extend the lives of patients via their proprietary platform and drug development approach by developing novel small molecule drugs targeting disease-causing transcription factors to treat chronic illnesses and cancers.
https://www.altaytherapeutics.com/
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