Startups 2026
Emerging Startup
SynuCa Therapeutics
Innovation & Business Idea
SynuCa is developing first-in-class, orally available small molecules that selectively normalize a disease-specific gain-of-function state of the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-ATPase (SERCA). Toxic α-synuclein aggregates are the pathological hallmark in PD, MSA and DLB, and we have demonstrates how aggregated, but not monomeric, α-synuclein directly binds to, and pathologically over activates, SERCA, leading to Ca2+ dysregulation and impaired autophagy. Rather than targeting α-synuclein directly, SynuCa intervenes upstream at a core intracellular driver of pathology, restoring Ca2+ homeostasis and autophagy to enable clearance of the toxic aggregates. This normalization-based approach achieves efficacy at very low target modulation (<5% functional SERCA inhibition needed) to provide overwhelming efficacy while preserving physiological SERCA function.
Contact
Lasse Reimer
lr@synuca.com
