Denali Therapeutics secures another $130 million for neurodegenerative disease research
pharmafile | August 26, 2016 | News story | Medical Communications |
Denali Therapeutics has announced a string of collaborations and financing deals worth $130 million that will see the biotech, which only launched in May, set to launch a Phase I trial for a potential Alzheimer’s and ALS treatment.
The San Francisco-based company was launched by three former Genentech executives, with initial announcements declaring that it would focus on neurodegenerative diseases but this latest update has given greater detail on the pathways it will target.
The company has filed an application to begin a Phase I trial in Europe for a small molecule RIP1 inhibitor with central nervous system penetrative properties. Denali hopes to use data from the trial to inform future studies in patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
“Mounting genetic evidence points to glial dysfunction as an accelerator of neurodegeneration, and we believe that advancing our RIP1 inhibitor into human clinical testing is a significant step in bringing forward a novel mechanism to combat ALS and Alzheimer’s disease,” says Dr. Carole Ho, Chief Medical Officer.
Furthermore, Denali has made several deals which include the acquisition of Incro Pharmaceuticals for access to its RIP1 inhibitor programme and a license agreement with Genentech for rights to develop and commercialise LRRK2 inhibitors for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
CEO Ryan Watts comments: “We are pleased to share some of the significant progress we have made in building out Denali’s systematic and novel approaches and capabilities to defeat degeneration. We continue to progress toward our ultimate goal of helping patients who suffer from debilitating neurodegenerative disease.”
Sean Murray
