Jocasta Neuroscience has entered into an expanded licensing agreement with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to advance α-klotho-based therapies for cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative disease.
The agreement, signed through UCSF’s Innovation Ventures office, supersedes the licence Jocasta previously acquired from Unity Biotechnology and gives the biotech exclusive rights to UCSF-held intellectual property covering α-klotho therapeutics.
The licence encompasses potential applications across Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), as well as mental and mood disorders, neural impairment caused by injury or illness and the enhancement of cognitive and motor function.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Jocasta is developing JN-0413, a proprietary synthetic subcutaneous formulation of α-klotho, as its lead therapeutic candidate.
The company expects to begin Phase I clinical trials in early 2027, with its website indicating an Investigational New Drug (IND) submission is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.
Translating UCSF klotho research
The agreement builds on research conducted at UCSF into α-klotho, a naturally occurring protein associated with longevity and brain resilience.
Levels of the protein decline with age and research has suggested that increasing α-klotho may improve cognitive function and protect against age-related neurological decline.
Dena Dubal, MD, PhD, a UCSF Professor of Neurology and the David A. Coulter Endowed Chair in Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease, has led research into klotho’s role in brain ageing.
UCSF describes her work as investigating how klotho can enhance cognition and increase resilience to neurodegenerative disease.
Recent research from Dubal and colleagues has also examined the relationship between klotho and cognitive resilience in Parkinson’s disease, with findings published in The Journal of Neuroscience in May.
Dubal is also a scientific co-founder of Jocasta, according to a UCSF event disclosure, making the new agreement a continuation of the relationship between the university research programme and the company developing the technology.
The underlying science has previously extended into non-human primate studies.
A 2023 Nature Aging study reported that a single dose of α-klotho improved working memory in aged rhesus macaques, with effects lasting for several weeks.
Alongside the new UCSF agreement, Jocasta and Unity have reconciled their original licensing arrangement.
Jocasta will therefore have no further milestone payment or royalty obligations to Unity under that agreement, simplifying the intellectual property and commercial structure ahead of clinical development.
