Pharmaceutical company Pfizer has led a $15m series A round for US-based Alzheimer’s disease treatment developer Cortexyme.
Japan-based pharmaceutical firm Takeda Pharmaceutical Company also took part in the round, investing through its Takeda Ventures unit, as did existing investors including venture capital firm Dolby Family Ventures.
Cortexyme is working on treatments for Alzheimer’s and other degenerative disorders that will target a specific pathogen tied to neurodegeneration. It has several drug candidates in preclinical studies.
Margi McLoughlin, Pfizer’s executive director of worldwide business development, will join Cortexyme’s board of directors along with Ilan Zipkin, senior investment director at Takeda, and David Lamond, president of VC firm Lamond Capital.
The company previously raised $1m in an October 2014 seed round in which Dolby Family Ventures invested $500,000 and non-profit Breakout Labs supplied $350,000 in grant funding.