US-based neurodegenerative disease therapy developer E-Scape Bio closed a $63m series A round yesterday that included pharmaceutical firms Novo, Johnson and Johnson, Eli Lilly and Novartis.
Novo, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC and Novartis Venture Fund, respective subsidiaries of Johnson and Johnson and Novartis, provided the first $55m of the funding along with Osage University Partners and OrbiMed.
A securities filing suggests the $20m first tranche of the round closed in August 2015. Lilly Asia Ventures, a corporate venturing subsidiary of Eli Lilly, and Sutter Hill Ventures came on board as the spinout raised additional capital to close the round.
E-Scape Bio is working on treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, targeting inherited genetic drivers of the conditions and correcting dysfunctional proteins causing the disorder. It is initially focusing on Alzheimer’s disease.
The company was spun out of Gladstone Institutes, a non-profit biomedical research organisation affiliated with University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in 2015.
Leon Chen, interim chief executive officer of E-Scape Bio, said: “The drug we are developing could help the millions of Americans afflicted by Alzheimer’s disease, and for whom there are currently no effective treatments.
“Backed by human genetics and strong mechanistic underpinnings, this target and project are extremely promising, and we are excited to pursue this endeavour.”
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global University Venturing.