Korsana Biosciences, a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies to reduce the burden of neurodegenerative diseases, announced its emergence from stealth with $175 million in funding from a syndicate of healthcare investors.
The company was founded in 2024 with a $25 million seed investment from Fairmount and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. In September 2025, Korsana closed a $150 million private Series A financing co-led by Wellington Management and TCGX, with participation from J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Sanofi Ventures, Foresite Capital, and others. The capital is intended to support the development of potential best-in-class therapeutics targeting neurodegenerative diseases, initially focusing on Alzheimer’s disease.
Korsana’s lead candidate, KRSA-028, is a next-generation shuttled monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid beta for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Discovered in partnership with Paragon Therapeutics, KRSA-028 leverages the company’s proprietary Therapeutic Targeting platform, known as THETA™, which incorporates clinically validated transferrin receptor and Fc engineering. The approach is designed to improve drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier and address limitations associated with earlier transferrin receptor-based technologies.
According to the company, KRSA-028 is engineered to increase amyloid plaque clearance, reduce the rate of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities and hematologic adverse events, and enable a low-volume subcutaneous route of administration to improve convenience and compliance. Korsana is also advancing additional THETA-enabled programs for undisclosed neurodegenerative diseases with significant unmet need.
Korsana has appointed Jonathan Violin, Ph.D., as President and Chief Executive Officer. Violin previously served as the founding CEO of Viridian Therapeutics from 2020 to 2023 and was also the founding CEO of Dianthus Therapeutics and Quellis Biosciences, which later merged into Astria Therapeutics. He has been a venture partner at Fairmount since 2023.
The company stated that its financing is expected to fund operations into 2028, providing runway through key clinical milestones. These include pharmacokinetics, central nervous system penetration and safety data from healthy volunteers anticipated in mid-2027, as well as initial proof-of-concept data demonstrating amyloid plaque clearance in Alzheimer’s patients expected by the end of 2027.
Paragon Therapeutics, founded by Fairmount in 2021 and based in Waltham, Massachusetts, has now launched seven companies based on assets it has developed, including Korsana.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are thrilled to announce the launch of Korsana with a mission to elevate expectations for patients suffering from devastating neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, Alzheimer’s disease represents a massive and growing unmet need, with the U.S. patient population projected to double to approximately 13 million by 2050. Only two disease-modifying therapies have been approved to treat Alzheimer’s, and both carry safety warnings, offer only modest efficacy, and impose a high burden of care. Patients deserve better options than what is currently available, and we believe our lead program KRSA-028 can deliver a best-in-class product to treat Alzheimer’s. I am thrilled with the robust support of our mission by Korsana’s investors, and excited to build another leading biotechnology company in partnership with the team at Paragon Therapeutics.”
Jonathan Violin, Ph.D., President And Chief Executive Officer, Korsana Biosciences
“We believe Korsana is well positioned to overcome the limitations of not just first-generation Alzheimer’s therapies, but also of earlier shuttle technologies. Leveraging a well-established regulatory pathway, Korsana is advancing the next generation of therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, with a clear path to creating value for patients. We are thrilled to work with Korsana to build what I believe will become an important and valuable company. Together, we are committed to delivering better medicines to patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases.”
Andrew Gottesdiener, M.D., Partner, Venrock And Co-Founder And Member Of The Board Of Directors, Korsana
“We are excited to come together with the rest of this investor syndicate to support Korsana’s launch. We look forward to seeing KRSA-028 and Korsana’s pipeline of innovative therapies advance through key clinical milestones in the coming years.”
Nilesh Kumar, Head Of Biotech Private Investments, Wellington Management And Member Of The Board Of Directors, Korsana
