Pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and AbbVie provided $10m of funding for US-based neurodegenerative disease therapy developer Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday.
Aquinnah is working on drugs that will combat the stress granule proteins that are a prominent cause of neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and Alzheimer’s disease. Its candidates are currently in clinical trials for animals.
The deal comes after another pharmaceutical company, Takeda, invested $5m in Aquinnah at the end of 2015.
Scott Brun, head of AbbVie Ventures, said: “Aquinnah’s research approach, developed by world-class scientific and drug development leaders, could offer valuable advances to treat these debilitating, progressive brain diseases and complements AbbVie’s ongoing neuroscience research efforts.”
Morris Birnbaum, Pfizer’s chief scientific officer of internal medicine, said: “We believe Aquinnah’s novel approach to ALS and Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most promising developments in neurodegenerative disease today.
“We see the potential for multiple approaches to these diseases based on the company’s work. Neurodegenerative disease remains one of Pfizer’s top priorities and we are committed to supporting Aquinnah’s research.”