Tosk: Flying through preclinical testing

Tosk is screening Drosophila melanogaster mutants that model human disease to identify small molecule candidates to treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease (AD), stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and diabetic neuropathy. The company also uses its fly model system to screen compounds for toxicity and preclinical characteristics prior to clinical development.

"We have separate products but all are based on the same principle of making sure they work in the fly system first," said CEO Patrick Fogarty. "Whether it's screening a cancer drug or our gene therapy system, the organism leads the way."...