Novel Drug Discovery Proposals and Small Molecule-based Approaches for Neurodegenerative Disorders

Takeda Pharmaceutical are launching an open innovation initiative inviting researchers to submit their proposals addressing novel therapeutic concepts/targets related to neurodegenerative disorders or genetic neurological diseases. One‑year projects will be funded up to JPY 10,000,000 or equivalent amount, including indirect costs.

Diseases of particular interest: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, Down’s syndrome with Alzheimer’s disease, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, Huntington’s disease, ataxias, spinal bulbar muscular atrophy, muscular dystrophies (DM1, FSHD, DMD), Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Projects should address one of two areas:

REF#1 Novel drug discovery proposals for diseases named above, other rare diseases with neurodegeneration, and innovative research related to healthy ageing, such as therapeutic approaches to prevent or stop neurodegeneration.

• Targeting aberrant glial cells, key autonomous and non-autonomous disease-relevant pathways
• Cellular senescence with relevance to neurodegenerative disease
• Targeting key pathobiological features on abnormal RNA/DNA structures, RNA splicing, and protein production
• Irregularities in sleep/circadian rhythm, waste clearance, BBB integrity, age-associated chronic inflammation, organelle homeostasis, DNA damage and sensory system
• Faithful recapitulation of clinical symptoms and pathology via the use of patient‑derived samples and/or reverse translational approach

REF#2 Small molecule-based approaches to address diseases named above. Chemistry-driven drug discovery programmes based on innovative mechanism of action addressing the following aspects will be prioritised: (i) protein degraders targeting ubiquitin-proteasome or autophagy-lysosome systems, (ii) DNA/RNA targeting molecules (e.g. RNA-binding proteins and/or their complex), and (iii) molecular chaperones.

Jurisdictions of Interest

Only submissions from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan will be eligible for this campaign.

Submission Information

To view more details on each area of interest seeking proposals for funding, download a proposal template here. For terms and conditions, click here. To submit your proposal, please visit our website at discover.in-part.com, register, and submit your proposal under the appropriate Discover campaign.