SAN DIEGO, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Neurogenetics, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company targeting Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative disorders, announced today the completion of $9.0 million in venture capital financing. The financing round included previous investors Alta Partners, Advent International and GIMV (Belgium), as well as new investors Novartis Venture Fund and S.R. One, a wholly owned affiliate of GlaxoSmithKline plc.
``Neurogenetics has come a long way in a short period of time,'' said Jean Deleage, M.S., Ph.D., founder and managing partner of Alta Partners. ``Under its exclusive licensing agreements with Massachusetts General Hospital, the company has advanced development programs based on the well-known work of Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D. Neurogenetics' agreement with Eisai, a global leader in Alzheimer's disease research and treatment, could lead to the identification of important new molecular targets and therapies for Alzheimer's. We believe the company has established a leadership position in the exciting area of small molecule therapeutics for chronic CNS diseases.''
Neurogenetics' research and development efforts are focused on establishing novel molecular targets through analysis of disease-specific genetic polymorphisms for prevalent neurodegenerative diseases and developing orally active small molecule therapeutics to halt the progress of such diseases through interactions with these targets. One therapeutic approach of the company is preventing the formation of the highly specific pathological lesions of AD known as neuritic plaques. These plaques are composed primarily of a relatively small yet extremely toxic peptide referred to as amyloid beta42 (A-beta42). Neurogenetics is employing unique approaches to identify compounds that minimize the pathological impact of A-beta42.
``The successful completion of this financing reflects the continued confidence of our initial investors in the potential of our therapeutic approaches, as well as the commitment of important new corporate venture capital investors,'' stated William Comer, Ph.D., chairman of Neurogenetics. ``This additional funding will support further progress toward our goal of discovering new molecular targets and therapeutics for AD, as well as for Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, stroke, ALS, epilepsy and chronic pain. We have now developed proprietary bioassays and have identified active small molecules,'' added Comer... |
