Taiwan-based neurogenerative disease treatment developer Aprinoia Therapeutics closed a $11.1m series B round yesterday that was backed by ShangPharma Investment Group, a subsidiary of pharmaceutical research services provider ShangPharma.
Venture capital firm KTB Network led the round, which included biotech advisory firm TaiAn Technologies and DCI Partners, a subsidiary of investment bank Daiwa Securities Group.
Founded in 2015, Aprinoia is working on imaging diagnostic technologies and therapies for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease.
The diagnostics technology is based on developing imaging tracers for tau, a protein surrounding components of healthy brain neurons that degrades when a patient is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
The cash will be used to develop Aprinoia’s preclinical and clinical-stage assets. The company said its lead asset, a tau tracer known as 18F-PM-PBB3, displayed potential during clinical trials in Alzheimer’s and progressive supranuclear palsy patients.
Kevin Kuk-Hyun Kyung, team manager of KTB Network, has joined Aprinoia’s board of directors in conjunction with the round. Aprinoia raised $6.4m in its seed and series A rounds, the company said yesterday.