A Closer Look At Cantabio Pharmaceuticals Inc (OTCMKTS:CTBO)

Shares of Cantabio Pharmaceuticals Inc (OTCMKTS:CTBO) have finally settled down a bit after taking investors on a roller coaster of ride in June and July. This was because the company was the subject of a major league promotion from The Bioscience Report with a $150k weekly budget. The newsletter put a long-term price target of $22.75 on the company and no doubt that’s what had gotten investors excited. Now shares have established support at $2 and investors are asking what's next.Cantabio is focused on bringing novel, first-in-class drug candidates into clinical trials and beyond through the discovery and development of innovative pharmacological chaperone and protein delivery based therapeutics, focusing on protein systems implicated in neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and oxidative stress. The company is currently engaged in advanced pre-clinical trials of its therapeutic candidates and is focused on developing these towards clinical trials.CEO Dr. Gergely Toth will be presenting results of the company’s DJ-1 protein targeting small molecule pharmacological chaperone therapeutic programs at two conferences: the 4^th World Parkinson’s Congress in Portland, Oregon on September 20-22 and the 3^rd International Parkinson’s Disease Symposium in Luxemburg on October 6-8. The presentations will describe the chemical microarray based high throughput binding screening applied for the identification of a diverse set of novel DJ-1 small molecule ligands, and characterization of one class of small molecule ligands and their positive biological activity in cellular and in vivo models of Parkinson's Disease (PD).For those that aren't familiar, DJ-1 is one of the key proteins involved in the prevention and reduction of damage due to oxidative stress and protein misfolding in brain cells. Loss of DJ-1 protein function has been linked to the onset and progression of familial and sporadic PD and other neurodegenerative diseases. Rescuing cells from the loss of DJ-1 function could be a critical factor in progressing towards a viable treatment of PD.Last month, Cantabio Pharma signed an agreement with Purdue Research Foundation (PRF) to advance the company’s development work on targeting DJ-1 protein small molecule pharmaceutical chaperone drug candidates for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease and other related neurodegenerative diseases. The agreement gives Cantabio access to intellectual property derived from the joint research done at Purdue University and Cantabio, further strengthening the company’s intellectual property position in DJ-1 pharmaceutical chaperones, and provides further confidence in the validity of the therapeutic program for PD and neurodegenerative diseases in general.Cantabio has been working on its portfolio of novel pharmaceutical chaperone therapeutic candidates with globally recognized Purdue University neurobiologist Jean-Christophe Rochet, Ph.D. since 2009, with research funding from the Michael J Fox Foundation. To date, the results from these studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of these molecules in protecting brain PD relevant cell disease models. Dr. Rochet’s laboratory is continuing to collaborate with Cantabio to investigate selected Cantabio drug candidates in primary neuron models of Parkinson’s Disease. Chris Rochet, Ph.D., head of the Rochet Lab at Purdue University said:

"Identifying small molecules that rescue DJ-1 activity could have a significant impact on the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases involving DJ-1 dysfunction, including Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. Collaborative efforts involving my lab’s expertise in biochemical and cellular mechanisms of Parkinson’s Disease and drug discovery expertise at Cantabio have led to key findings that set the stage for developing disease-modifying therapies. We look forward to continuing this highly productive collaboration with Cantabio.”

Currently trading with a market cap of $55 million, CTBO has just $196k in cash and $446k in accounts payable. The company also posted a loss of $266k in its latest quarter. CTBO will have to raise funds to continue its research. All eyes and ears will be focused on what the company has to say at the 4^th World Parkinson’s Congress in Portland, Oregon on September 20-22 and the 3^rd International Parkinson’s Disease Symposium in Luxemburg on October 6-8. We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on CTBO, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in CTBO and have not been compensated for this article.