D&D Pharmatech is a clinical-stage global biotech company that funds the development of revolutionary medicines through disease-specific subsidiary companies founded and guided by top-tier medical research faculty. This corporate structure creates a unique opportunity to accelerate translation of cutting-edge research into lifesaving therapeutic products for patients. The company’s product pipeline focuses on a range of indications including neurodegenerative and fibrotic diseases as well as application of big data in CNS drug research and diagnostics. D&D Pharmatech is the parent company of U.S.-based Neuraly, Precision Molecular, Valted Seq, Theraly Fibrosis and P4 Microbiome. In addition to the companies above, D&D Pharmatech’s drug discovery program is focused on unmet medical needs that include diabetes, obesity and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) – conditions affecting millions of people worldwide. Among others, DD01, a long-acting dual receptor agonist, is in Phase 1/2A in patients with obesity/diabetes and NASH. DD02, an orally active GLP-1R agonist, is entering IND-enabling studies. In addition, P4M01, an anti-microbial peptide, is being investigated in Phase 2A in patients with periodontal disease and planned for Phase 2B studies.

Neuraly is a clinical-stage company whose mission is to translate scientific discoveries in neurology into revolutionary new drugs that can radically improve and prolong the lives of people suffering from the devasting consequences of diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other neurodegenerative disorders. Neuraly was founded in 2016 to translate foundational research by world class neuroscientists, at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, into therapies for patients. Neuraly has accumulated a wealth of knowledge in the role of glia biology in neuroinflammation and neuroprotection as well as success in advancing a risk-diversified product portfolio for PD and AD. NLY01, the lead asset, is a long-acting, microglia-targeted GLP-1R agonist that targets microglia/astrocytes-induced neuroinflammation and has proven strong therapeutic efficacy in preclinical models of both PD and AD. NLY01 is currently in Phase 2 in early Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s patients. Neuraly is advancing IND-enabling studies of follow-up small molecule candidates with different but complementary mechanisms for PD and AD.

Precision Molecular (PMI) is a clinical-stage company with the mission to develop imaging biomarkers and theranostics (targeted therapy combined with diagnostics) for management of patients with CNS disorders and cancer. PMI was founded in 2019 to translate the innovative research by world class radiologists led by Martin G. Pomper, MD., PhD, Henry N. Wagner, Jr. Professor and Director of the Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. PMI’s foundational intellectual property was developed by his renown radiology research team, known as the Precision Molecular Imaging Coalition. PMI features various imaging biomarker products in the clinic with great potential to improve early diagnostics of neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Utilizing these imaging biomarkers to follow disease progression may provide clinical researchers with powerful tools for early assessment of drug efficacy in clinical trials. For example, PMI04, a microglia-targeted PET/SPECT agent, is under investigation in patients with PD, AD and ALS. PMI06, a PD-L1-targeted PET agent, is entering Phase 1 in cancer patients who are eligible for immunotherapy.

Theraly Fibrosis is a preclinical-stage company whose mission is to develop innovative treatments for various forms of life-threatening fibrotic disease. Theraly was founded in 2015 to translate lab discoveries for fibrosis therapy led by Seulki Lee, PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Theraly’s founding programs are based on the discoveries of Dr. Lee’s research team, whose pioneering research elucidated a TRAIL biology pathway underlying the origins of disease in tissue remodeling and fibrosis. The company is focused on developing a potentially universal anti-fibrotic drug. The lead asset TLY012, a human protein-based DR5 agonist, selectively targets myofibroblasts, one of the significant originators of fibrosis, and reverses established fibrosis in preclinical models of fibrosis in liver, pancreas, and skin. TLY012 has the potential to cure fibrotic diseases, including systemic sclerosis, liver fibrosis/cirrhosis, and chronic pancreatitis, as well as fibrosis driven cancers. TLY012 received US orphan drug status for systemic sclerosis and chronic pancreatitis and is currently entering a Phase 1 clinical trial.

Valted Seq is focused on the discovery of neurodegenerative pathways and biomarkers to inform and accelerate development of new therapeutics and diagnostics, including companion diagnostics which play a critical role in enabling advanced therapeutics. To achieve this, the company has created the world’s largest repository of single-cell sequencing data from high-quality, clinically characterized brain tissues of patients with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Valted Seq was founded in 2019 by Prof. Valina L. Dawson, Ph.D. and Ted M. Dawson, MD, PhD, a prominent husband-wife research team at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, based on the belief that a deeper understanding of neurodegenerative pathways is essential to develop precision therapeutics and identify novel biomarkers to diagnose, guide therapies and monitor some of our most challenging and devastating diseases. The ongoing collection and comprehensive analysis of thousands of brain tissue samples using Valted Seq’s state-of-the-art single-cell analysis technology, HiF-Seq 2.0, combined with advanced big data analytics and machine learning will support a number of projects including development of a first-in-class liquid biopsy assay for blood-based biomarkers for detection and monitoring of Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Seulki Lee is Associate Professor of Radiology and Radiological Science with secondary appointments in Ophthalmology, Oncology and Materials Science and Engineering and a member of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. His research group focuses on exploring GLP-1 signaling in neurodegenerative disorders and TRAIL signaling in fibrosis diseases and cancer for the development of novel therapies. Dr. Lee is an expert in drug and protein drug delivery, nanotechnology and molecular imaging leading to more than 140 articles in peer-reviewed journals and received multiple awards, including the NRC Associateship from the National Academy of Sciences, the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), Career Development Award and Investigator-Initiated Research Award from the Department of Defense, Thome Memorial Foundation Award and the Maryland Innovation Initiative Award. Dr. Lee was selected as a 2017 Highly Cited Researchers.