Neuron23 has closed a $100m Series C financing round, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, to advance the development of potential therapeutic candidate for Parkinson’s Disease (PD).
The company’s existing investors Kleiner Perkins, Redmile Group, Westlake Village BioPartners, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Acorn Bioventures, HBM Partners, Perceptive Advisors, and Surveyor Capital, a Citadel company, also participated in the financing round.
The current funding round will take the company’s total funding raised to $213.5m.
Neuron23 intends to use the funding to advance the development of its lead programmes against leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2), and tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2).
In addition, the company will use the funds to strengthen its clinical development team, precision neuroimmunology platform, and data sciences capabilities.
Concurrent to the transaction, Neuron23 appointed SoftBank Investment Advisers investor Valentin Vali Barsan and Jim Scopa, an investor in life sciences firms, to its board of directors.
Barsan said: “While identifying targetable molecular variants has become the standard of care across many cancers, the incorporation of genetics in clinical neurology and immunology has only recently become tractable.
“We’re amazed by Neuron23’s capacity to redefine molecular landscapes that can personalize neurological and immunological medicines. We believe this will enable a pipeline of novel precision medicines that will have a profound impact on patients.”
LRRK2 is a complex, multidomain protein found in neurons and other tissues, associated with Parkinson’s disease and systemic inflammatory diseases.
TYK2 is a JAK family protein that plays a key role in pathological immune signalling.
Neuron23 intends to commence clinical trials for NEU-723, its potential candidate for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, by the end of this year.
NEU-723 is a brain-penetrant LRRK2 inhibitor, and a highly potent and selective LRRK2 inhibitor indicated for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Established in 2018, Neuron23 is a US-based biotechnology company engaged in developing precision medicines for neurological and immunological diseases.
The company leverages recent advances in human genetics, combined with advanced AI-enabled drug discovery and biomarker platforms, to develop drugs for severe diseases.
Neuron23 CEO Nancy Stagliano said: “This round represents a strong endorsement of Neuron23’s approach to precision neurology which is extremely gratifying.
“As exemplified within our LRRK2 Parkinson’s disease program, we intend to identify patients, using state-of-the-art machine learning tools, who are most likely to respond to our therapies, increasing the likelihood of success in the clinic and bringing the right medicines to the right patients.
“The time to innovate in neurodegenerative disease drug development is now, and I am grateful to SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and all our existing investors for their support.”
