Inhibikase Therapeutics, with funding from The Michael J. Fox Foundation, began pre-IND studies of the company's novel Abelson tyrosine kinase (c-Abl) inhibitors, IkT-148009, as a potential Parkinson's disease (PD) treatment. Inhibikase is also one of the three entities studying Nilotinib as a PD treatment.

IkT-148009, is a highly potent, first-in-class, small-molecule drug designed and engineered as a chronically administered, once-daily oral medication that targets an underlying biological mechanism that leads to Parkinson's disease, with the goal of reversing disease progression. IkT-148009 is designed to block the activation of Abl kinase, a clinically validated drug target, to prevent and/or reverse the loss of dopamine-secreting neurons in the brain by restoring neuroprotective mechanisms. IkT-148009 is believed to be 50 times more brain penetrable than Nilotinib due to the small size of the molecule.

Inhibikase Wins $433, MJFF Grant to Study c-Abl Inhibitors as Parkinson's Treatment | GEN