Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Invests $500,000 in Myosana Therapeutics to Advance Non-Viral Gene Ther

Investment from Leading Duchenne Organization Contributes To Seed Funding Round Totaling Over $5 Million, Builds on Earlier PPMD Investment Which Facilitated Crucial Data Generation

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), a nonprofit organization leading the fight to end Duchenne muscular dystrophy (Duchenne), today announced a $500,000 programmatic investment in Myosana Therapeutics, Inc. (Myosana) to support the company's continuing development and translation of a non-viral gene therapy delivery platform aiming to slow skeletal muscle degeneration and heart failure in Duchenne.

Duchenne is the most common muscular dystrophy in children, affecting approximately one in 5,000 live male births. It is a progressive disorder that causes muscles to become weaker over time until it affects the whole body. Duchenne is caused by a change in theDMDgene that codes for the dystrophin protein.

While the field of gene therapy continues to advance and the promise of AAV-mediated delivery of micro-dystrophin transgenes progresses, the Duchenne community has recognized many challenges with these therapies, such as immune responses to viral capsid and barriers to redosing. PPMD previously announced a $350,480 programmatic investment in Myosanain August 2021, to support the development of its non-viral gene therapy candidate that could potentially deliver full-length dystrophin systemically.