Backed by Novo Holdings, Asceneuron Raises $100 Million in Quest for Alzheimer’s Cure

Alzheimer’s drugs have been flooding the market lately, as investors look for the next big advance in the field of neuroscience. Novo Holdings aims to achieve this by injecting $100 million in Series C funding for Asceneuron, a Switzerland-based company. The object of appeal is a small molecule drug called ASN51, which can potentially lead to a dramatic shift in the way Alzheimer’s is treated, according to Naveed Siddiqui, M.D., a senior partner for research investments at Novo Holdings.

Phase 1 trials have already shown the effect of ASN51 on the nervous system and the OGA enzyme. Now, Asceneuron looks to take the drug to Phase 2 trials, owing to the cash raised from the latest Series C funding round. Current data from Asceneuron supports a daily regimen in fighting Alzheimer’s, which is to be supplemented by a new study to be conducted starting in the second half of 2024.

Existing methods of combating the illness include Biogen and Eisai’s intravenous inoculation Leqembi, as well as Eli Lilly’s Kisnula, which is an injection and thus different from Asceneuron’s new treatment, which is taken orally. This, it is hoped, will give Asceneuron a leg up in its competition with early entrants to the market.

These hopes are shared by new investors such as EQT Life Sciences Dementia Fund, OrbiMed, and SR One. Many of its prior investors are also big names such as JJDC, M Ventures, and Sofinnova Ventures. This latest injection of cash from its last funding round also resulted in Asceneuron welcoming new board members, including EQT’s Philip Scheltens and OrbiMed’s Dina Chaya, Ph.D.

“This high-caliber life sciences investor syndicate further validates the potential of our OGA inhibitor pipeline and leadership in the field of tauopathies,” said Asceneuron CEO Barbara Pavik while commenting on the firm’s impressive resume of investors. She also said that she hopes as the drug enters Phase 2 trials, it will help expand the treatment available to Alzheimer’s patients, who are currently awaiting further developments.

Asceneuron emerged from Merck KGaA’s Serono division in 2012 and has since developed another OGA inhibitor called ASN90. The rights to that drug were secured by Ferrer to develop it for a tau-related illness called progressive supranuclear palsy.

The oral drug produced by Asceneuron is likely to help slow Alzheimer’s progression by preventing the accumulation of specific proteins called tau proteins, which are associated with Alzheimer’s. Additionally, Asceneuron claims that limiting the OGA enzyme will also prevent the accretion of proteins responsible for other neurodegenerative ailments such as Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

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