Asceneuron closes $100 million oversubscribed Series C

On July 16, 2024, Asceneuron SA, a clinical stage biotech company developing small molecules targeting tau protein aggregation, a root cause of neurodegenerative disease, announced an $100 million oversubscribed Series C financing to advance the clinical development of its groundbreaking clinical pipeline of OGA inhibitors for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. The financing was led by Novo Holdings with new investment from EQT Life Sciences - LSP Dementia Fund, OrbiMed and SR One, alongside participation from existing investors M Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, GSK Equities Investments Limited and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc.

The financing will be used to advance Asceneuron’s lead asset ASN51 into Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. ASN51 is an oral small molecule drug designed to inhibit OGA, an enzyme implicated in protein aggregation. By preventing the aggregation of tau proteins, ASN51 aims to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. OGA inhibition has also shown promising potential to prevent the aggregation of proteins that are central to other neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Lenz & Staehelin advised Asceneuron in its Series C financing. The team was led by Federico Trabaldo Togna (Corporate and M&A) and Floran Ponce (Tax), and included David di Rosa, Noé Luisoni and Victor Sellier (all Corporate and M&A), Kimberly Hundt (Tax), as well as Sevan Antreasyan (IP, Regulatory).