Neurosterix, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing allosteric modulator therapeutics for underserved neurological disorders, announced it has launched with a $63 million Series A financing led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund II, with participation from Perceptive Life Sciences Fund and Acorn Bioventures.
Neurosterix is utilizing decades of investment by Addex to build a leading allosteric modulator discovery technology platform. The platform has a track record of identifying highly selective and brain-penetrant small-molecule drugs—a class that has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of neurological disorders. Neurosterix’s lead program is a muscarinic acetylcholine receptor subtype 4 positive allosteric modulator (M4 PAM) for the treatment of patients suffering from schizophrenia.
Allosteric modulators bind to its target receptor outside of the active site, where the natural ligand and traditional drugs operate. And this non-competitive mode of action brings greater selectivity and more precision over the control of biological pathways, potentially delivering improved efficacy and safety.
The pharmaceutical industry has found the identification and design of allosteric modulators challenging. But Neurosterix will accelerate its pursuit of these exciting medicines by acquiring Addex’s industry-leading proprietary high-throughput allosteric modulator drug discovery platform and a portfolio of preclinical neuroscience assets.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are excited to launch Neurosterix with the support of our founding investors, Perceptive Advisors, and Acorn Bioventures, to rapidly advance our pipeline of potentially best-in-class therapies targeting patients who suffer from debilitating neurological disorders. Our goal at Neurosterix is to develop new medicines based on allosteric modulation that overcome the burdens of traditional drugs and provide patients with the potential to dramatically improve their lives.”
– Tim Dyer, CEO of Neurosterix
“We are dedicated to supporting the Neurosterix team in its development of these promising assets and will provide the necessary resources to enable the Company to rapidly advance transformational therapies for patients struggling from neurological disorders. We recognize the potential of not only the assets now being developed within Neurosterix, but also the potential of the platform to develop a broad-based set of life-changing medicines.”
– Fred Callori, Managing Director, Venture at Perceptive Advisors and Chairman of the Board of Neurosterix
