Accure to complete required preclinical studies to file IND application for ACT-02 program in 2026
Fonds National de Recherche (FNR) grant will fund Transcend-PD project, designed to evaluate efficacy of ACT-02 in translational iPSC models, to support patient selection and stratification
Funding marks significant support for Accure’s asset, which should enter clinical development in 2026
Barcelona, Spain, April 7, 2025 – Accure Therapeutics, a private translational neuroscience R&D company, today announces its receipt of two grants totalling $1.6M for two separate development programs on its drug candidate ACT-02. ACT-02 is a novel asset with disease-modifying potential, inhibiting Prolyl Endopeptidase (PREP), a promising but previously overlooked target in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The ACT-02 program is at an advanced preclinical stage, supported by comprehensive positive efficacy data in Parkinson’s in vivo models and a GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) toxicology and safety pharmacology data set.
This is a major milestone for the company, demonstrating support for the robust science and R&D plans behind ACT-02 and its potential in addressing critical unmet needs in PD.
An MJFF grant to fund the phase I IND study in 2026
Accure Therapeutics received a $1.12M grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF). The foundation is committed to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease and developing improved therapies to enhance patients’ lives. The grant will fund the project titled ‘ACT-02 as a disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson’s (MJFF-025939)’. This project is a collaboration between the Institute of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy at Stiftung Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover, led by Prof. Dr. Franziska Richter Assencio, and Accure Therapeutics.
Funding will be used to finalize the preclinical activities required for completing investigational new drug (IND) studies, with a view to filing an application for a phase I IND study in 2026.
“Our team is extremely keen to further study ACT-02 which has already demonstrated neuroprotective effects in dopaminergic neurons, reduction of α-synuclein aggregation and neuroinflammation, while improving mitochondrial functioning and enhancing the motor and cognitive performance in Thy1-aSyn mice (line 61) experiments”, said Prof. Dr. Franziska Richter Assencio.
An FNR grant to support a public-private partnership on Parkinson’s disease
The FNR BRIDGES program, managed by the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), provides financial support for industry partnerships between public research institutions in Luxembourg and national or international companies, aiming to stimulate innovation and sustainable value creation.
The €0.48m grant (including monetary and in-kind subsidies) will support the Transcend-PD project: ‘Pharmacological targeting of Prolyl Endopeptidase in human induced pluripotent stem cells-derived neurons for the development of precision medicine therapeutic strategies in Parkinson’s disease’. This project is a collaboration between the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) Translational Neuroscience group, led by Prof. Rejko Krüger, neurologist and Professor in Neurosciences at the University of Luxembourg, and Accure Therapeutics. It aims to assess the efficacy of ACT-02 in highly translational patient derived induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of PD, to enhance patient selection and stratification for future precision medicine strategies.
“This public-private collaboration will allow us to get more insights into first causative treatments for Parkinson’s disease by further describing the effect of modulating a new target, PREP, with a new orally active drug candidate”, said Prof. Rejko Krüger. “We will extend the highly translational PD iPSC work to test its efficacy, aiming at better guiding patient selection and stratification in future clinical trials.”
“We are grateful to MJFF and the FNR for their funding support of our ACT-02 asset as a potential therapy for people with PD. These two grants are significant steps forward for us and our academic partners in the development of our first-in-class drug candidate, ACT-02, for Parkinson’s disease,” said Laurent Nguyen, co-founder and CEO at Accure Therapeutics. ‘Following the footprints of ACT-01, our first neuroprotective program which recently achieved positive phase II clinical trial results in neuro-ophthalmology, we aim with ACT-02 to develop a game changer drug to treat patients suffering from PD’, he added.
Parkinson’s is the second most common and fastest growing neurodegenerative disease, with more than ten million people worldwide living with the condition; nearly one million in the US, a number expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2030. The global PD market size was estimated at $5.65 billion (€5.18bn) in 2024 and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 5.04% from 2025 to 2030.
About ACT-02
ACT-02 is the second program launched by Accure Therapeutics focusing on certain neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Parkinson’s disease. ACT-02 is a first-in-class advanced orally active PREP (Prolyl Endopeptidase) inhibitor in development to limit disease progression and long-term disabilities in certain proteinopathies, including Parkinson’s.
PREP is a multitasking protein and underexplored target for neurodegenerative diseases. It has a dual mechanism of action which interferes with key pathological pathways to provide the basis for an ‘all-in-one multifactorial’ approach to tackle the complexity of neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s, where multiple pathways are affected, and to limit and/or reduce progression of both motor and non-motor symptoms (e.g. cognitive impairment).
About Accure Therapeutics
Accure Therapeutics is a private translational neuroscience R&D company. Based in Barcelona (Spain), it was launched in 2020 with a Series A funding led by Alta Life Sciences Spain I and supported by the Centre for Technological and Industrial Development (CDTI). It has a unique portfolio of three first-in-class new chemical entities programs, pursuing innovative targets and potential game changers in the treatment of serious diseases of the central nervous system: ACT-01 (licensed to Oculis – NASDAQ: OCS) at positive phase II clinical trial completed stage in acute optic neuritis, ACT-02 at IND-enabling stage in Parkinson’s disease and ACT-03 at CCS-stage in epilepsy.
With an experienced business and scientific team, Accure Therapeutics is one of the few companies that operate in an agnostic fashion on initial science to deliver cutting-edge drugs in CNS. www.accure.health
Accure Therapeutics, a private pharma R&D engine at clinical stage in the CNS field, was launched in 2020 with a Series A funding led by Alta Life Sciences and supported by the Centre for Technological and Industrial Development (CDTI).
