Alto Neuroscience, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision medicines for neuropsychiatric disorders, announced it has secured approximately $120 million in a private placement financing.
The financing was led by Commodore Capital with participation from institutional investors, including Dellora Investments, Driehaus Capital Management, Perceptive Advisors, Spruce Street Capital, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, Vestal Point Capital, and a large biotech-focused investor.
Under the agreement, Alto is selling 2.9 million shares of common stock at $20.00 per share. In addition, the company will issue pre-funded warrants to purchase up to 3.1 million shares of common stock at a purchase price of $19.9999 per warrant, each with an exercise price of $0.0001 per share and no expiration date.
Alto said it plans to use the proceeds primarily to support the development of ALTO-207, its investigational treatment for treatment-resistant depression. The company expects to begin a Phase 2b clinical trial in the first half of 2026 and launch a Phase 3 trial in early 2027.
If the Phase 3 study is successful, Alto plans to pursue a New Drug Application submission to regulators. The company said the financing should provide sufficient capital to fund the Phase 3 trial through completion and potentially through the NDA submission process.
After accounting for the anticipated proceeds, Alto estimates it would have had approximately $275 million in cash and cash equivalents as of February 28, 2026.
ALTO-207 is a fixed-dose combination therapy consisting of pramipexole, a dopamine D3-preferring D3/D2 agonist commonly used to treat Parkinson’s disease and known to have antidepressant effects, and ondansetron, a selective 5-HT3 receptor antagonist used as an antiemetic. The combination is designed to allow rapid titration and higher dosing by reducing the dose-limiting side effects typically associated with pramipexole.
In a randomized Phase 2a trial involving 32 patients with depression, the therapy met its primary and secondary endpoints, demonstrating significantly greater improvements on the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale compared with placebo. Patients receiving ALTO-207 reached a mean dose of 4.1 mg per day and the treatment showed a safety profile comparable to placebo during the maintenance phase.
The company said the therapy is being developed to address the significant unmet need among patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression.
Support: Placement agents for the transaction included Jefferies, BofA Securities, TD Cowen, Stifel, William Blair and Baird.
KEY QUOTE:
“This financing is expected to provide the resources needed to advance ALTO-207 through a Phase 3 study, a major step toward realizing the potential of this program. We appreciate the support from this top-tier investor group, which we believe reflects the growing confidence in Alto’s precision neuroscience strategy and in ALTO-207 as a potential treatment option for patients with significant unmet need. We look forward to advancing the program and continuing to deliver on key milestones.”
Amit Etkin, M.D., Ph.D., Founder And Chief Executive Officer, Alto Neuroscience
