Forest Hills Lab
Advancing Innovative Research in Regenerative Medicine

Human life expectancy is increasing at a rapid rate. Although increased longevity is a milestone for the medical field, not all adults experience good health and well-being as they age. Many encounter an increased risk of age-related diseases and health issues that adversely affect day-to-day functioning and overall quality of life. Take neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, for instance, which strike mid to late-life and are among the most common age-dependent disorders.

Committed to curbing the impact of these neurodegenerative diseases and improving the quality of life of patients is Forest Hills Lab (FHL), an innovative regenerative medicine company. FHL comprises two divisions: Neuro-Med, a therapeutic drug development platform focused on neurodegenerative diseases with high unmet need, and Cos-Med, which develops and markets a comprehensive line of injectable aesthetics products globally.

FHL is an affiliate of Mstone Partners, a privately-held investment firm with a biotech incubation platform supporting novel drug development.

The market for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s is primarily comprised of symptom-relief drugs with limited treatments to slow, stop, or modify disease progression. FHL aims to change this status quo with their extraordinary portfolio of nine drug candidates and combination therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, beginning with Parkinson’s, to improve the lives of the patients. FHL’s lead pipeline candidate, FHL-301, is already FDA approved to initiate Phase 2 trials, while one other pipeline candidate, FHL-101, was recently approved for Phase 1 trials and one more candidate, FHL-201, is preparing for IND in 2023.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are a heterogeneous group of disorders, requiring multiple approaches for effective treatment. To that end, FHL has expanded its pipeline to develop drug candidates in small molecule, peptide and antibody modalities that address the syndromic nature of the diseases to increase the success rate, as opposed to years of research focused on a single drug.

FHL addresses the complex syndromic nature of neurodegenerative diseases and their multiple underlying causes, such as genetic and environmental factors, and varied symptoms unique to different patients. The coming years will witness FHL partnering with biopharma companies to pioneer R&D for drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. With the adoption of a precision medicine and a patient-focused model, FHL plans to establish robust patient recruitment criteria to select and enroll the right target groups based on objective measures of disease progression.

“We are confident that FHL’s therapies will prove effective, patient-friendly, and disease-modifying treatments in the near future. Our multiple assets of nine candidates and combination therapies have demonstrated excellent animal proof of concept with many promising mechanisms of actions (MOAs) for cognitive impairment and movement disorders,” says Alex Yang, CEO of FHL.

“We are cognizant of the cost involved in research and development and look forward to forming strategic alliances with multiple partners to accelerate pipeline development,” continues Yang. The pipeline candidates today encompass various disease-modifying MOAs as well as new and refocused therapies. Apart from oral delivery, multiple candidates have also shown promising preclinical data when intra-nasally delivered, which enables efficient delivery past the blood-brain barrier.

What differentiates FHL from their peers is their business approach toward drug development. FHL’s acquisition of the Cos-Med division along with its Korean HA filler manufacturing and R&D capabilities was a strategy to ensure a revenue-generating channel that sustains Neuro-Med research. The Cos-Med division markets a comprehensive line of medical and cosmetic-grade injectable dermal HA fillers, PN fillers, and meso-serums alongside innovative energy devices – with a diverse client base in Russia, China, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asian countries. FHL recently signed a distribution agreement with one of China’s leading aesthetic product distributers.

Whether Cos-Med or Neuro-Med, FHL ascribes its success to the brains behind their business strategy — the leadership team. The company has a dedicated team of legal and business professionals alongside scientists and biotech experts. This combination of business acumen and scientific expertise helps FHL steer through the entire drug development cycle.