Seeding Drug Discovery: projects we've funded Therapeutics Alpha-GABa receptor modulators for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with Huntington’s disease Huntington's disease is a fatal genetic disease characterised by a movement disorder that is accompanied by a decline in cognitive function and changes in mood and behaviour. The decline in cognitive function may precede the movement disorder by a decade or more and is a very important component of the functional disability assoc (360G-Wellcome-089325_Z_09_G)

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes a very high number of cases of pneumonia, meningitis and bacteraemia, worldwide. Despite using antibiotics that kill the bacterium, a large number of patients still die and in meningitis, many survivors have profound neurological handicap. This is because the bacterium produces a very damaging virulence factor that is not inhibited by antibiotics. This problem constitutes an unmet medical need that Professor Peter Andrew and colleagues from the University of Leicester are proposing to fulfill. They have identified that small molecules can inhibit this virulence factor and are effective in vivo. The team have been awarded funding through the Seeding Drug Discovery initiative to identify new small molecules and through a programme of medicinal chemistry, combined with in vitro and in vivo testing, to identify lead compounds with appropriate efficacy, pharmacokinetics and toxicology. The aim is that giving such molecules will reduce the number of patients that die or suffer handicap as a result.