Small molecules, big hopes

A new company, "Micure Therapeutics", which was recently established in the science park in Ness-Ziona by Dr. Ze'ev Weinfeld, will develop drugs and diagnostic tools for depression and ALS based on research done at the Weizmann Institute

A new company, "Micure Therapeutics", recently established in the science park in Ness-Ziona by Dr. Ze'ev Weinfeld, will develop drugs and diagnostic tools for depression and ALS based on research done at the Weizmann Institute of Science. The studies dealt with microRNA molecules - tiny biological molecules that control gene activity. Since they were discovered about two decades ago, they have gained enormous interest among scientists around the world, among other things due to the potential inherent in them for drug development.

"Micure" received from "Yade" a license to develop applications based on two discoveries in the field of microRNA. Prof. Alon Chen, in collaboration with Dr. Eran Hornstein, discovered that in people suffering from depression, the activity level of a certain microRNA molecule is relatively low, but this level increases after behavioral therapy. In laboratory animals, increasing the expression of this molecule in nerve cells in the brain led to an improvement in behaviors analogous to depression in humans. The second discovery focused on another microRNA molecule. Dr. Hornstein, in collaboration with Prof. Chen, discovered that this molecule affects the function of motor nerve cells, which degenerate and die in ALS.