Jaya Biosciences, Inc. announced it has received official patent notices of allowance in Singapore, Japan, and China for its novel approach to treating neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. The patents, granted on July 6th, July 10th, and July 12th respectively, cover "Methods of Detecting, Preventing, Reversing, and Treating Neurological Diseases."
"We are very pleased to have our first patents allowed in China, Japan, and Singapore, which represent major markets and a large unmet need," said Pawel Krysiak, JayaBio's President & CEO. "This supports our strong commitment to addressing unmet needs in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases globally and paves the way for potential collaborations with strategic partners in Asian markets."
Breakthrough Discovery in Lysosomal Enzyme Genetics
The South San Francisco-based company has licensed its technology from Washington University, St. Louis, where investigators made a groundbreaking discovery about the role of lysosomal enzyme gene mutations in neurodegeneration. Research from Washington University School of Medicine revealed that heterozygous loss-of-function mutations in lysosomal enzyme genes represent risk factors for adult-onset neurological disease, including Alzheimer's Disease.
Human genetic analyses demonstrate that deleterious coding variants in several lysosomal enzyme genes are significantly enriched in the Alzheimer's disease population compared to matched controls. Preliminary analysis of pedigrees from families of known carriers for these mutations suggests a several-fold increase in adult-onset neurologic disease compared to the general population.
"Historically, carriers of lysosomal enzyme gene defects have been considered normal throughout life, but these data represent an extension of Mendel's basic laws of autosomal recessive diseases and an important paradigm shift for carriers of lysosomal enzyme defects and adult-onset neurological disease, including Alzheimer's," said Prof. Mark Sands, JayaBio's Science Advisory Board Chair.
Promising Preclinical Results for JB111
Animal studies support the human genetic data, showing that haploinsufficiency of lysosomal enzymes directly affects amyloid beta metabolism, greatly exacerbates plaque formation, and significantly reduces the life span of the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.
JB111, the company's lead therapy, is an experimental CNS-directed AAV9-mediated PPT1 gene therapy being developed for Alzheimer's disease associated with PPT1 haploinsufficiency. In preclinical studies, a single dose of JB111 ameliorates the pathological and clinical phenotype of the 5xFAD mouse harboring a heterozygous loss-of-function mutation in the PPT1 gene.
The therapy demonstrated very promising results in animal models, with a single intracerebroventricular injection of JB111 resulting in significantly increased life span, reduced plaque load, and improved cognitive performance.
Addressing Massive Unmet Need in Asian Markets
The patent allowances position Jaya Biosciences to address substantial unmet medical needs across Asia. Japan has one of the highest rates of Alzheimer's disease worldwide, with 23% of women and 11% of men aged 60 or older, representing over 6 million people, living with the condition.
China presents an even larger opportunity, with more than 16 million people suffering from dementia, predominantly Alzheimer's, representing the world's largest population and accounting for nearly 30% of total global dementia cases. In Singapore, dementia affects about 1 in 11 adults over 60 years of age, with numbers expected to more than double by 2030.
"While the exact numbers are not yet known, we believe that JayaBio's precision medicine approach targeting upstream effector pathways rather than downstream markers can address a significant portion of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in these markets as well as worldwide," said Dr. Neal Goodwin, Chief Scientific Officer of JayaBio.
Targeting the Autophagy-Lysosomal Pathway
The company's approach focuses on the autophagy-lysosomal pathway, which plays a critical role in neurodegeneration. Lysosomes are subcellular organelles responsible for the normal degradation and turnover of cellular components and aggregation-prone proteins. Deficits in the autophagy-lysosomal pathway result in protein aggregation, the generation of toxic protein species, and accumulation of dysfunctional organelles, which are hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases.
Lysosomal function declines with age and likely contributes both to the aging process itself as well as the development of age-related diseases such as neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Emerging evidence suggests that defects in certain lysosomal enzyme genes are associated with various neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's Disease, Frontotemporal Dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease.
Clinical Development Path
Dr. Goodwin expressed excitement about "guiding JB111 through IND-enabling toxicology and clinical development to provide a viable solution to Alzheimer's patients with heterozygous mutations in lysosomal enzyme genes."
The privately held pre-clinical stage company is developing CNS-directed gene therapies for genetically defined neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and frontotemporal dementia. JayaBio's platform is based on the discovery that carriers of loss-of-function mutations in genes for lysosomal enzymes have an increased risk of neurodegeneration, including early onset of symptoms.
