WOBURN, Mass., May 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vertero Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company breaking barriers in neurodegenerative disease treatment, today announced that the first patient with Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been dosed in the Phase 1b portion of its study of its lead candidate VT-5006, a first-in-class, gut-selective small molecule in development to address the significant unmet needs of people living with PD.
“With VT-5006, we aim to redefine the approach to treating neurodegenerative diseases by targeting causative triggers in the peripheral nervous system that fuels these diseases,” said Becca Senter, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Vertero. “Advancing into the Parkinson’s population is an important milestone that will provide some early clarity on the therapeutic potential of VT-5006. Our ultimate goal is to advance the standard of care and deliver a transformative, disease-modifying option that the Parkinson’s community has long awaited.”
Vertero developed VT-5006 as part of a strategy to address peripheral targets contributing to the development and progression of Parkinson’s disease. VT-5006 targets CsgA, a microbial amyloid that drives toxic aggregation of alpha-synuclein and inflammation that spreads to the brain. By neutralizing CsgA, VT-5006 has the potential to slow disease progression and preserve functionality for affected individuals.
“Clinicians are urgently seeking strategies that can intervene in the progressively debilitating journey of Parkinson’s disease rather than just treating its symptoms. By targeting CsgA in the periphery, there is a unique opportunity to intercept the disease at a suspected origin in the early development of the disease,” said Philip Kremer, MD, primary investigator of the trial and Research Director, Neurology, at the Centre for Human Drug Research in the Netherlands (CHDR). “CHDR is proud to lead this Phase 1b study as we evaluate the safety, tolerability and target engagement of VT-5006, generating critical insights to inform its continued clinical development.”
Following the successful completion of the 1a study phase in healthy volunteers, which found no significant safety or tolerability signals, Vertero has now advanced the study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and target engagement of VT-5006 in the PD patient population. Several exploratory pharmacodynamic endpoints will also be measured. The study will initially enroll 24 participants who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in the last 10 years, who are at early or moderate stages of disease (Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) scale <3), and who are CsgA positive. Participants will be randomized to receive VT-5006 at a low dose, a high dose, or a placebo daily for 28 days.
“Vertero’s focus on upstream, peripheral molecular targets represents a promising clinical application of the ‘body-first’ hypothesis, an increasingly prominent scientific concept that, in at least a subset of patients with PD, pathological processes may begin outside the brain before progressing through interconnected neural pathways. By targeting these early upstream mechanisms, Vertero is pursuing an innovative strategy that has the potential not only to address symptoms, but also fundamentally influence the underlying biological drivers of Parkinson’s disease and possibly other neurodegenerative disorders,” said Professor Bastiaan (Bas) Bloem, MD, PhD, professor of movement disorder neurology and director of the Center of Expertise for PD at Radboud University Medical Centre and Vertero Scientific Advisory Board member. “As the program advances into evaluation in patients with PD, this trial will provide important translational insights into addressing the underlying mechanism, which could ultimately have a tangible impact on the long-term outlook for this disease.”
About VT-5006
Vertero’s lead candidate, VT-5006, is a first-in-class, gut-selective small molecule designed to slow disease onset and progression and preserve quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The molecule acts on CsgA, a microbial amyloid used by bacteria to anchor to the GI wall and drives the aggregation of alpha-synuclein (⍺Syn) and inflammation that propagates to the brain and provokes PD. By targeting CsgA, VT-5006 aims to reduce the load of aggregation and dampen the associated inflammation — potentially both alleviating symptoms and slowing disease progression. In preclinical research, VT-5006 reduced brain pathology, reduced inflammation in the brain, improved motor function, and slowed disease progression with a favorable safety profile. The investigational therapy is currently under evaluation in a Phase 1 clinical trial (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07310264).
About Vertero
Vertero Therapeutics is a clinical-stage company pioneering science beyond the brain to treat neurodegenerative diseases at their source. Vertero’s development pipeline of differentiated therapies targets the peripheral nervous system to delay onset and slow progression of challenging conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The company’s lead program currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial is VT-5006, designed to precisely treat a validated target in the gut that feeds the protein aggregation and inflammation implicated in Parkinson’s disease. The company also has an asset targeting bile acid dysregulation in early development for undisclosed indications. For more information, visit www.vertero.com or LinkedIn.
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