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Akashi Therapeutics Partners with Grünenthal Group to Advance Small-Molecule Therapy for DMD

Press Release: Akashi Therapeutics Establishes International Partnership with Grünenthal Group on HT-100 for DMD

Background: MDA funded Akashi Therapeutics research beginning in 2013 through the MDA Venture Philanthropy or “MVP” program. MVP is the drug development program, which operates within MDA's Translational Research program. MVP is exclusively focused on funding the discovery and clinical application of treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases. Thanks in part to early funding through the MVP program, Akashi today announced a $100 million partnership with Grünenthal Group for a global drug development program for the investigational therapeutic HT-100, an orally available small-molecule therapy for DMD.

Statement from MDA Scientific Program Officer Laura Hagerty, Ph.D.: “We are proud to have funded early research from Akashi Therapeutics through our MDA Venture Philanthropy program, and we are thrilled for their new partnership and its promising potential for our DMD families. MDA’s prior support of Akashi through the MVP program produced encouraging clinical trial results which have now enabled Akashi to partner HT-100 with Grünenthal, a mid-sized pharmaceutical company with the knowledge and resource to carry forward with late stage clinical development. We look forward to what is sure to be an exciting partnership that will work toward bringing urgently needed treatments to our families.”   

About MDA

The Muscular Dystrophy Association is the world’s leading nonprofit health agency dedicated to saving and improving the lives of people with muscle disease, including muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neuromuscular diseases. It does so by funding worldwide research to find treatments and cures; by providing comprehensive health care services and support to MDA families nationwide; and by rallying communities to fight back through advocacy, fundraising and local engagement.

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