BOSTON, Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- BERG, a biopharmaceutical company uncovering health solutions through a data-driven, biological research approach, today unveiled data from a recent study that clarified the role of a genetic mutation in the LRRK2 gene, which represents a major risk factor for both sporadic and familial Parkinson's disease (PD), at the Society for Neuroscience's Neuroscience 2016 meeting. The study utilized BERG's Interrogative Biology ® platform with the aim to understand the mechanism behind LRRK2-driven PD, and the resulting analysis identified p53-inducible gene 3 (PIG3) as a novel regulator of cell death in Parkinson's disease. The discovery may serve as a novel drug target for development of new therapeutics for PD.
Through BERG's Interrogative Biology® platform, the study analyzed data points of skin cells from PD patients obtained from BERG's partner The Parkinson's Institute to understand the neurological disorder. This study also showcased the predictive power of Interrogative Biology® as a discovery tool for mining fundamental biology from peripheral cells to better understand inherent molecular drivers of neurodegenerative disease.
"We're excited to continue to push the boundaries of what's possible with the Interrogative Biology® system," said BERG CEO, co-founder and president Niven R. Narain. "The Interrogative Biology® system is able to fill the knowledge gap through seemingly unrelated patient biology – as in this instance, where we used skin cells to discover key insights about a neurological disorder. In addition, unraveling novel biology into the CNS disease space where the basic understanding of diseases like PD is not fully elucidated offers the field insight that may lead to developing disease modifying drugs."
The BERG Interrogative Biology® platform maps patient disease states by interrogating both the healthy and diseased states of the patient biology and data to uncover a network of causal relationships between historical, molecular and other data types and patient outcomes. BERG will further explore mechanisms associated with LRRK2 and PIG3, and develop additional uses for the Interrogative Biology ® platform to understand the mysteries associated with Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases, to develop safe and effective treatment pathways.
"I am very encouraged by the progress of the BERG Interrogative Biology® system as not only did it identify PIG3 as a novel contributor to cell death in PD patients, it also uncovered that a LRRK2 mutation leads to a core abnormality in GBA-related pathways," stated Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Friedman Brain Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
More information on BERG's session 287.09 - Interrogative Biology®identifies p53-inducible gene 3 (PIG3) as a potential contributor to LRRK2-mediated neuronal cell death in Parkinson's Disease: http://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/index.html#!/4071/presentation/32939
About BERG
BERG is a clinical-stage company disrupting and re-defining the approach to drug discovery, research and development through its Interrogative Biology® platform. Its platform identifies therapies and biomarkers by applying algorithm- and probability-based artificial intelligence to analyze large numbers of patients' genotypic, phenotypic and other characteristics. BERG's platform operates at the intersection of biology, technology and artificial intelligence analytics and integrates many data characteristics regarding patients' lifestyles, demographics and biology. BERG believes this allows the company to better understand patients' disease profiles and consequently to identify and reveal molecular signatures to guide and accelerate product candidate selection and development. By identifying biomarkers and patient characteristics that are unique to the disease state, BERG is able to identify novel therapeutic product candidates and develop companion diagnostics to enhance specificity in its drug development process.
BERG has leveraged its Interrogative Biology® platform to develop a robust pipeline of therapeutic product candidates and diagnostics in cancer, diabetes and neurology. Its lead drug, BPM-31510 (IV), has the potential to slow or reverse cancer cell growth by changing a hypothesized fundamental driver of many different types of cancer. BERG has initiated a Phase II clinical trial for BPM-31510 (IV) in advanced pancreatic cancer in combination with a common cancer drug, among other ongoing and planned trials for BPM-31510 (IV) in various oncological indications.
For additional information, please visit www.BERGhealth.com.
SOURCE BERG