SEATTLE, July 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Shape Therapeutics, a leader in RNA editing-based gene therapy, today announced that it has been awarded a research grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to advance IND-enabling studies of SHP-201, the company’s lead gene therapy candidate for Parkinson’s disease (PD). The award will support preclinical studies characterizing the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and safety of SHP-201 to enable a subsequent Investigational New Drug (IND) submission for clinical trials.
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder, for which no disease-modifying therapy has received regulatory approval despite decades of research. The pathological accumulation of the alpha-synuclein protein (aSyn), encoded by the SNCA gene, is widely understood to be a key driver of the neurodegeneration underlying both the motor and non-motor symptoms of PD. Reducing aSyn in the brain is a promising path to a disease-modifying treatment, but existing approaches are limited by the difficulty of delivering therapy durably and precisely to the deep subcortical regions most affected in PD, such as the substantia nigra.
SHP-201 is designed to overcome these limitations. The approach pairs Shape’s engineered, blood brain barrier (BBB)-crossing AAV capsid with an RNA-editing payload, based on the company’s RNAfix® technology, that targets and edits the SNCA transcript to reduce production of aSyn. Delivered as a single intravenous infusion, SHP-201 is intended to provide durable, brain-wide aSyn reduction, including in the substantia nigra, without repeat invasive administration. In preclinical models, the SHP-201 payload drives robust, highly specific knockdown of aSyn, and in a pilot non-clinical study, intravenous delivery achieved on-target activity throughout the brain, with the highest activity in the deep subcortical regions critical to Parkinson’s disease. With MJFF’s support, the team will conduct IND-enabling pharmacology, pharmacokinetic, biodistribution, and toxicology studies of SHP-201 across a range of doses to support clinical dose selection ahead of a planned IND submission.
“We are delighted to receive this support from MJFF, which will significantly help us advance SHP-201 and contribute to the development of new therapeutic strategies for Parkinson’s disease,” said Adrian Briggs, Chief Technology Officer of Shape Therapeutics.
The grant was awarded through MJFF’s Parkinson’s Disease Therapeutics Pipeline Program, which supports preclinical and translational research aimed at evaluating promising therapeutic approaches for Parkinson’s disease.
“Alpha-synuclein remains one of the most important therapeutic targets in Parkinson’s disease, but significant challenges remain in delivering potential therapies broadly and effectively throughout the brain,” said Shalini Padmanabhan, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Head of Translational Research at The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. “The studies supported through this award will generate important translational data that may help evaluate this approach and inform the broader field of alpha-synuclein-targeted therapeutic development.”
About Shape Therapeutics
Shape Therapeutics is leveraging AI to develop new payload, delivery and manufacturing technologies for the gene therapy industry. Alongside the company’s own RNA-targeting gene therapy portfolio, Shape’s platform includes AAV capsids with enhanced tropism and penetration profiles, enabling delivery of genetic medicines to previously inaccessible tissues. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington. You can find us at shapetx.com and on LinkedIn.
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