Catalyst Awardee

Project Description

Development of a next-generation pharmaceutical to target oxidized cholesterol and reverse cardiovascular disease

Matthew S. O’Connor, PhD | Cyclarity Therapeutics
Competition Sponsor: US National Academy of Medicine
Awardee Year: 2022

Toxic oxysterols have been tied to numerous age-related diseases. Our team of scientists has engineered a custom cyclodextrin (a cyclic polysaccharide), which is designed to extract these toxic biomolecules from the body. We propose two concise projects to validate our findings that our cyclodextrin can remove oxidized cholesterol, thereby rehabilitating damaged immune cells and allowing them to repair damage such as atherosclerotic lesions. The ultimate goal of our company is to bring one or more of our custom cyclodextrins to the clinic to treat a variety of the world’s most deadly diseases, starting with atherosclerosis.

To learn more about this proposal, email healthylongevity@nas.edu.

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