Perlara

Perlara is a drug discovery Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) that specializes in identifying treatments for rare genetic diseases using a platform based on model organisms. By engineering diseases into yeast, nematodes, fruit flies, and zebrafish, the company performs high-throughput screening of small molecule libraries to find potential therapeutic candidates. Perlara operates through a unique "Cure Guide" model, partnering directly with patient families and foundations to accelerate drug repurposing and novel discovery efforts. Their most notable success includes the identification of epalrestat as a potential treatment for PMM2-CDG, which progressed into a pivotal clinical trial. The company's mission is to decentralize and democratize the drug discovery process for the millions of people affected by orphan diseases.