Chaperone Therapeutics looking to raise $900,000

Chaperone Therapeutics which recently teaming up with the nonprofit ALS Therapy Development Institute of Cambridge, Mass., to explore potential treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is looking to raise new equity.

Chaperone aims to raise $900,000 in equity, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

Chaperone filed a Form D on Jan. 12, stating it has raised $456,569 of the total offering of $900,000. Proceeds will be used for working capital, which may include normal compensation to executive officers.

Privately held Chaperone Therapeutics is developing therapies for neurodegenerative and rare diseases caused by protein misfolding. The company’s approaches “elevate the natural protein folding and stress protection mechanisms to prevent protein misfolding and the ensuing cell dysfunction and death,” according to its website.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease.

The research partners will complete preclinical optimization of Chaperone’s lead candidates and develop a clinical development plan in ALS, they said in a announcement last summer.

Chaperone, a spinout of Duke University, has received $200,000 in financial support from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center – a $50,000 Company Inception Loan in 2008 and a $150,000 Small Business Research Loan in 2010. The company is developing frontline therapies to address protein misfolding and neuronal cell loss, the underlying causes of neurodegenerative diseases including ALS, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and others.

Chaperone has developed several promising small molecules targeting the activation of heat shock factor protein 1 (HSF1), a key modulator of pathways involved in protein folding and neuronal stress protection.

“Like many neurodegenerative disease indications, ALS appears to be a protein misfolding disorder,” said Steve Perrin, CEO of the ALS Therapy Development Institute, at the time. “The accumulation of these errant proteins results in cellular stress in motor neurons, loss of innervation of skeletal muscle, and paralysis in ALS patients. We are excited about the partnership with Chaperone. These lead molecules could be first-in-class treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS.”

Therapeutic Areas for Charperone Therapeutics:

Protein misfolding is the underlying cause of devastating neurodegenerative diseases. Chaperone Therapeutics is developing disease-modifying therapies that directly ameliorate protein misfolding. Small molecules that elevate the activity of the protein folding machinery and protect neurons are in pre-clinical development. Biomarkers have been identified to monitor the efficacy of therapeutic responses. Priority therapeutic areas under development include: