Alectos Therapeutics is a privately held pharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of human disease. We focus on preclinical drug development, target validation, and IND-enabling studies. Alectos develops innovative new strategies to address medical conditions for which there are no effective treatments.
Our most advanced program is directed towards development of first-in-class agents that modulate O-GlcNAcase (OGA) as a disease-modifying therapy for neurodegenerative disease, including progressive supranuclear palsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. As part of its pipeline, Alectos is also developing selective inhibitors of non-lysosomal glucosylceramidase (GBA2) as a strategy to address lysosomal dysfunction in neurodegenerative disease. Our GBA2 program is directed toward Niemann-Pick type C disease, Parkinson’s disease, and other neurological disorders where lysosomal dysfunction plays a role.
O-GlcNAcylation Regulates Dopamine Neuron Function, Survival and Degeneration in Parkinson Disease
The dopamine system in the midbrain is essential for volitional movement, action selection, and reward-related learning. Despite its versatile roles, it contains [...]
MK-8719, a Novel and Selective O-GlcNAcase Inhibitor That Reduces the Formation of Pathological Tau and Ameliorates Neurodegeneration in a Mouse Model of Tauopathy
Deposition of hyperphosphorylated and aggregated tau protein in the central nervous system is characteristic of Alzheimer disease and other tauopathies. Tau is [...]
Discovery of MK-8719, A Potent O-GlcNAcase Inhibitor as a Potential Treatment for Tauopathies
Inhibition of O-GlcNAcase (OGA) has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach to treat tau pathology in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease [...]
The Discovery and Characterization of [18F]MK‐8553, a Novel PET Tracer for Imaging O‐GlcNAcase (OGA)
[18F]MK-8553 is a high affinity, selective OGA inhibitor with properties suitable for imaging OGA and determining central enzyme occupancy in both preclinical [...]
Reducing GBA2 Activity Ameliorates Neuropathology in Niemann-Pick Type C Mice
The enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GBA) hydrolyses glucosylceramide (GlcCer) in lysosomes. Markedly reduced GBA activity is associated with severe manifestations of Gaucher disease including [...]