Synchronicity Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing novel therapies that target circadian rhythm dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Diego, California, the company focuses on restoring biological clock function as a strategy to improve both motor and non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease.
Circadian rhythm disturbances are nearly universal in Parkinson's disease:
- Melatonin suppression: Reduced melatonin secretion in PD patients
- Body temperature dysregulation: Abnormal circadian temperature rhythms
- Sleep fragmentation: Disrupted sleep-wake cycles
- Cortisol dysregulation: Altered HPA axis circadian patterns
These disturbances correlate with:
- Worse motor outcomes
- Increased cognitive decline
- Reduced quality of life
- Increased mortality
Synchronicity's approach involves:
- Clock gene modulation: Small molecules targeting BMAL1, CLOCK, and circadian gene expression
- Light-sensitive ion channels: Optopharmacological approaches to manipulate circadian neurons
- Melatonin receptor agonists: Improving circadian timing signals
| Drug |
Indication |
Mechanism |
Stage |
| SYNC-101 |
PD sleep disorders |
Melatonin receptor agonist |
Phase 1 |
| SYNC-102 |
PD circadian dysfunction |
BMAL1 expression modulator |
Preclinical |
| SYNC-103 |
DLB sleep-wake disturbances |
Novel circadian target |
Discovery |
SYNC-101 is a dual melatonin receptor (MT1/MT2) agonist optimized for circadian phase shifting:
- Advantages over melatonin: Better pharmacokinetics, receptor selectivity, dose control
- Expected benefits: Improved sleep onset, circadian alignment, reduced RBD severity
- Development status: Completed Phase 1, planning Phase 2 in PD
Synchronicity's founders include world experts in circadian rhythm research:
- Target identification: Using circadian transcriptomics to identify novel targets
- Patient selection: Biomarkers for circadian dysfunction identification
- Combination approaches: Pairing circadian therapies with dopaminergic treatments
- PD mouse models: 6-OHDA and alpha-synuclein overexpression models
- Circadian assays: Bioluminescence monitoring of clock gene expression
- Human organoids: Patient-derived circadian cell models
- Sleep disorders first: PD-associated sleep dysfunction as initial indication
- Broad applications: Expanding to Alzheimer's disease, depression, shift work disorder
- Companion diagnostics: Circadian biomarker testing for patient selection
- Academic: University of California San Diego, Scripps Research
- Pharmaceutical: Discussions with major CNS companies for co-development
- Foundation: Parkinson's Foundation research grants
- Seed: $8M (2022)
- Series A: $35M (2024) - led by OrbiMed and Surveyor Capital
- Non-dilutive: NIH SBIR grant for circadian dysfunction in PD
- Prevalence: 6 million PD patients worldwide, 90% have sleep disorders
- Market size: PD sleep market estimated at $2B by 2030
- Unmet need: No approved circadian-targeting therapies for PD
¶ Competitive Landscape
| Company |
Approach |
Status |
| Idorsia |
Orexin antagonist (insomnia) |
Approved |
| Exicure |
Melatonin analogs |
Preclinical |
| Synchronicity |
Melatonin receptor agonists |
Phase 1 |
| Academia |
Light therapy |
Research |
Synchronicity positions circadian restoration as a novel approach in PD:
- Symptom improvement: Addressing sleep disorders that significantly impact quality of life
- Disease modification: Hypothesized neuroprotective effects of circadian normalization
- Combination therapy: Potential to enhance effects of dopaminergic medications