▲ Director C. Justin Lee of the IBS Center for Cognition and Sociality and CEO Hwang Sung yeon of Neurobiogen

IBS has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the biopharmaceutical company Neurobiogen to develop a new drug based on SeReMABI (Selective Reversible MAO-B Inhibitor), a known possible Alzheimer's treatment.

In 2014, the Cognitive Glioscience Group, led by Director C. Justin Lee of the IBS Center for Cognition and Sociality, identified the inhibition mechanism of GABA, the inhibitory neurotransmitter generated and secreted from the reactive astrocytes of the brain.

Through a joint R&D project with the Convergence Research Center for Dementia DTC of the KIST, the team developed SeReMABI (KDS2010), a candidate drug expected to recover and enhance cognitive functions. SeReMABI constantly reduces the amount of GABA, over-generated in Alzheimer’s brains.

While existing drugs only temporarily alleviate symptoms, SeReMABI is expected to cure the cause of dementia. In the 2019 experiment with mouse models for Alzheimer’s disease, researchers confirmed that SeReMABI improves and recovers cognitive function by inhibiting the activity of MAO-B, which induces over-generation of GABA.

Based on the MOU, both parties will conduct joint research, including the study of additional treatment mechanisms and evaluation of efficacy, to develop a new drug from SeReMABI based on the reactive astrocytes. Since the drug has been known to be effective for treating Parkinson's disease, obesity, stroke, spinal cord injury, and dementia, success in the clinical experiment will maximize the value of the new drug.

Amid continued clinical failures by global pharmaceutical companies, the MOU is expected to make a breakthrough in finding a cure for brain diseases.

Director Lee said, “Combining our brain research infrastructure and know-how with the R&D competence of Neurobiogen will provide a breakthrough in developing a treatment for brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. He added, “we are planning to conduct not only SeReMABI clinical trials, but also in-depth research on spinal cord injury and obesity - to increase clinical benefits.”