Cuban center studies molecule to treat neurodegenerative diseases

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 13 (ACN) The Medicine Research and Development Center (CIDEM), a scientific institution engaged in the research and development of generic drugs, natural products, advanced technologies and diagnostic kits, is currently focused on the study of innovative products, including some for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

One of the most promising molecules obtained at CIDEM, known as JM-20, will be submitted to a first phase of clinical trials in 2023 as part of a joint project launched around 10 years ago with the School of Chemistry of the University of Havana and the BioCubaFarma Business Group.

CIDEM director-general Sc.D. Alejandro Saúl Padrón Yaquis explained that they first developed about 20 molecules to find the most effective one to treat cerebral ischemia, the first targeted neurological disease. As it turned out, JM-20 could also be used for the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, based on its results in animal tests and a certification conducted by university laboratories in Brazil and Russia. Toxicological and pharmacological evaluations in two species are required before JM-20 can be tested in humans and, therefore, they will use zebrafish, which share 75% of its genes with humans and up to 85% in the presence of a disease, he remarked.