The brain makes its own cholesterol. When that balance slips, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s can follow. We’re building the molecules to restore brain cholesterol levels.

Pallomino Therapeutics is an early-stage drug discovery company based in Toronto. We are developing small molecule therapies targeting CYP46A1, a cholesterol-metabolizing enzyme expressed in neurons, for which there is no clinically approved treatment.

A tractable target with no clinically approved small molecule therapy yet.

CYP46A1 controls cholesterol turnover in the brain. When its activity is dysregulated, either too high or too low, it is a major contributor to the severity of conditions like epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
A measurable biomarker, 24-hydroxycholesterol, provides a practical readout of target engagement.
Despite compelling biology, no one has identified a small molecule that controls CYP46A1 activity through a live-cell phenotypic approach. That is the gap we are working in.

A live-cell approach to an unsolved problem.

We are running phenotypic small molecule screens against CYP46A1 using a live-cell platform developed at the University of Toronto.
The platform is designed to detect compounds that alter enzyme activity in a cellular context, something conventional biochemical assays cannot do at scale.
Our Phase 1 goal is a validated hit series with human cell activity and early target engagement data in hand.

The team.

Dr. Peter Roy, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer.

Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto. Over 20 years of experience in drug screens, model organism biology, and P450 enzymology. Developer of the live-cell screening platform underlying this program.

Kate Rootman, Co-Founder and CEO.

Leads strategy, business development, IP, and investor relationships. Background in innovation strategy and early-stage commercialization.

We are building something worth watching.

If you would like to learn more, we would be glad to talk. Email us at [email protected]