Brenig Therapeutics to Present AI-Enabled Design of a Brain-Penetrant NLRP3 Inhibitor at Keystone Symposia Neuroinflammation in Health and Disease

BOSTON and SAN DIEGO, June 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Brenig Therapeutics Inc. (Brenig), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing differentiated therapies for neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases, today announced that Alexei Pushechnikov, PhD, will present new data on the company's brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor program at the upcoming Keystone Symposia meeting, Neuroinflammation in Health and Disease, held jointly with Neurodegeneration: From Neurocentric to System-Wide Perspectives.

Dr. Pushechnikov's poster, titled "AI-Enabled Design of a Brain-Penetrant NLRP3 Inhibitor for Neuroinflammation in Parkinson's Disease," will detail how the company's Hybrid AI Platform, built together with Expert Systems, Inc., guided the design of BT-409, a brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor. The platform pairs physics-based structural biology with modern machine learning to tackle problems that have long slowed central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery.

Poster Presentation Details

• Conference: Keystone Symposia, Neuroinflammation in Health and Disease
• Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2026
• Time: 7:30 PM PT
• Session: Poster Session 1
• Location: Fairmont Chateau Whistler | Whistler, BC, Canada
• Poster number: 1532
• Title: AI-Enabled Design of a Brain-Penetrant NLRP3 Inhibitor for Neuroinflammation in Parkinson's Disease
• Presenter: Alexei Pushechnikov, PhD

Dr. Pushechnikov will describe how Brenig designs small molecules that are both highly selective and able to cross the blood–brain barrier, breaking the long-standing compromise drug developers have faced between potency, selectivity, and brain exposure. Because NLRP3 inflammasome activation is now widely viewed as a driver of the chronic neuroinflammation seen in Parkinson's disease and related disorders, the demand for inhibitors that pair true target selectivity with meaningful CNS penetration has become especially acute. Brenig combines structural insight drawn from molecular dynamics simulations with AI-driven optimization across many properties at once, tightening each design–make–test loop. Rather than tuning one property after another, the team refines potency, selectivity, safety, and brain exposure in parallel.

"Neuroinflammation underlies a great deal of what makes neurodegenerative disease progress, and NLRP3 has been one of the most attractive yet hardest targets to reach in the brain," said Dr. Pushechnikov. "Our work with Expert Systems gives us a discovery engine that searches chemical space far more precisely and efficiently than was possible before, and that is what let us design an NLRP3 inhibitor with both the selectivity and the brain exposure this biology requires."

The same approach underpins both of Brenig's clinical-stage programs:

• BT-409, a brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor targeting neuroinflammatory and cardiometabolic disease
• BT-267, a selective, brain-penetrant LRRK2 inhibitor for Parkinson's disease

BT-409 was first discovered at Mwyngil Therapeutics using the same core platform technologies; Brenig later acquired the program and advanced it into the clinic.

Taken together, the two programs show how the platform can produce compounds with well-tuned pharmacologic profiles, reinforcing Brenig's aim of building best-in-class therapies. The data Dr. Pushechnikov will present illustrate that the hybrid method can crack problems that have historically stymied CNS drug development—most notably combining high selectivity with dependable brain exposure.

"This is not a theoretical engine—it has already delivered clinical-stage assets with genuinely differentiated profiles," said Megan McGill, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Brenig Therapeutics. "BT-409 is exactly what we set out to create: a brain-penetrant therapy directed at the neuroinflammatory biology behind diseases like Parkinson's. Our partnership with Expert Systems has given us a discovery approach we believe can deliver best-in-class medicines time and again."

About Brenig Therapeutics

Brenig Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small molecule therapies for neurodegenerative, neuroinflammatory, and cardiometabolic diseases. The company leverages an AI/ML-enabled discovery platform—developed in partnership with Expert Systems—that integrates structural biology and data-driven design to create highly selective, brain-penetrant compounds with optimized pharmacologic properties. Brenig's lead programs include BT-267, a LRRK2 inhibitor in clinical development for Parkinson's disease, and BT-409, a brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor advancing through early clinical studies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the initiation, timing, design, conduct, and outcomes of planned or ongoing clinical studies; the therapeutic potential, safety, and efficacy of BT-409 and BT-267; the advancement of these programs into future clinical stages; and Brenig's development plans and strategic objectives. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, uncertainties inherent in drug discovery and development, clinical trial execution and results, regulatory review and approval processes, and the availability of capital. Brenig undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein, except as required by law.

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SOURCE Brenig Therapeutics Inc