Collaboration supports global LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE) to accelerate development of reliable biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease

Biognosys Group, a leading provider of proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics solutions, today announced a major collaboration with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to advance the development of highly sensitive and quantitative biomarker assays for Parkinson’s disease. The collaboration supports MJFF’s LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE), a global initiative designed to accelerate the development of therapies and biomarkers targeting leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), the most common genetic risk factor for late-onset Parkinson’s disease.

LRRK2 has emerged as one of the most compelling targets in Parkinson’s research, with a growing number of therapeutic modalities in development aimed at reducing excessive LRRK2 activity. These approaches have the potential to benefit not only individuals carrying LRRK2 mutations, but also a broader population of people with Parkinson’s disease who share dysregulation of the same biological pathway. However, a major barrier to clinical progress has been the lack of robust, sensitive, and quantitative biomarkers capable of reliably measuring LRRK2 expression level and activity as a pharmacodynamic readout of therapeutic treatment.

Developing such assays has proven notoriously challenging due to low-abundance signals, biological complexity, and the need for high quantitative precision across diverse clinical sample types. Through this collaboration, Biognosys will utilize the SISCAPA® and TrueSignature ultra-sensitive targeted proteomics platforms to help overcome these challenges and support the potential deployment in clinical trials of LRRK2 and related downstream biomarkers.

“Successful clinical development requires not only promising therapeutic approaches, but also reliable tools to measure whether those therapies are having their intended biological effect,” said Oliver Rinner, PhD, Senior Vice President at Biognosys Group. “By combining Biognosys’ expertise in highly sensitive, quantitative proteomics with MJFF’s collaborative LITE framework, we aim to accelerate the development of biomarkers that can meaningfully guide Parkinson’s drug development and de-risk clinical trials.”

The LRRK2 Investigative Therapeutics Exchange (LITE) is a comprehensive, large-scale global collaboration that brings together more than 50 academic, industry, and clinical partners. LITE participants commit from the outset to share resources, biosamples, tools, and early findings in near real time. This open-science approach creates an environment where promising ideas can be rapidly evaluated and advanced from hypothesis to practical therapeutic application.

“Through LITE, the Michael J. Fox Foundation supports collaborative efforts to develop reliable biomarkers that can measure target engagement and biological response in Parkinson’s disease,” said Shalini Padmanabhan, PhD, Senior Vice President of Discovery and Translational Research at MJFF. “Investments in sensitive assay development are essential for strengthening the tools needed to advance clinical research and evaluate emerging therapeutic strategies.”

About Biognosys Group

Biognosys Group is a technology and CRO company delivering integrated proteomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics solutions that make advanced mass spectrometry workflows seamlessly connected and accessible to every laboratory.

Biognosys Group brings together modular, best-in-class solutions spanning the entire omics workflow. Its ecosystem unites advanced consumables, software, instrumentation, and CRO services to ensure efficiency, scalability, and reproducibility – enabling researchers to push scientific boundaries with confidence.

The company embraces a vendor-neutral strategy, enabling open collaboration across the scientific community and broad compatibility with major mass spectrometry platforms. Every solution is designed to be modular, allowing customers to select the level of support they need from ready-to-use kits and software to supported implementation or full end-to-end CRO services.

About TrueSignature

The Biognosys TrueSignature platform delivers high-precision, fully customizable proteomics panels for pharmacodynamic assessment and clinical biomarker monitoring. Powered by Parallel Reaction Monitoring (PRM) mass spectrometry, the platform enables complete assay customization.

TrueSignature panels provide an unprecedented level of multiplexing, supporting the simultaneous absolute quantification of up to 100 proteins within a single assay. Panels can be developed within weeks and are offered either as a standalone solution or as an integrated workflow, where insights from TrueDiscovery studies directly inform protein selection for custom panels.

All measurements are performed with exceptional speed and throughput at Biognosys’ state-of-the-art facility, the world’s largest high-end, GCP-compliant mass spectrometry laboratory, ensuring robust, reproducible, and clinically relevant results.

About SISCAPA®

Biognosys is the preferred service provider for SISCAPA (Stable Isotope Standards and Capture by Anti-Peptide Antibodies), a state-of-the-art targeted proteomics solution designed to enable ultra-sensitive and highly precise quantification of low-abundance proteins in complex biological matrices.

By coupling SISCAPA’s highly selective immuno-enrichment with Biognosys’ high-resolution targeted mass spectrometry and advanced data processing, the platform delivers sensitive, multiplexed, and unequivocally identifiable measurements of protein biomarkers in complex samples. Offered as a fully integrated, end-to-end solution, the platform overcomes key limitations of traditional immunoassays, enabling researchers and pharmaceutical partners to quantify challenging proteins with high sensitivity and specificity, supporting translational and clinical applications.