NEW YORK & GENEVA– Neurosterix, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of allosteric modulator therapeutics for underserved neurological disorders, launched today 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 leveraging decades of investment made by Addex in building a leading allosteric modulator discovery technology platform. The platform has a track record of identifying highly selective, 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 their target receptor outside of the active site, where the natural ligand and traditional drugs operate. This non-competitive mode of action brings greater selectivity and more precision over the control of biological pathways, potentially delivering improved efficacy and safety. To date, the pharmaceutical industry has found the identification and design of allosteric modulators challenging. However, Neurosterix will accelerate its pursuit of these exciting medicines through acquiring Addex’s industry-leading proprietary high-throughput allosteric modulator drug discovery platform and a portfolio of preclinical neuroscience assets.
“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,” said Tim Dyer, CEO of Neurosterix. “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.”
“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,” said Fred Callori, Managing Director, Venture at Perceptive Advisors and Chairman of the Board of Neurosterix. “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.”
