Tetra Discovery Partners LLC
Capping PDE4 enzymes to treat memory loss, depression
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
Mark Gurney, one of the scientists credited with discovering the gene for beta-secretase, was surprised and disappointed when beta-amyloid antibodies failed to help Alzheimer’s disease patients, but he believes he has found an approach that will work: a mechanistically novel way of selectively inhibiting specific forms of PDE4. This is a bold bet for his start-up Tetra Discovery Partners LLC to pursue, given how grievously many major drugmakers failed in earlier efforts to inhibit PDE4.