Genting Management, a wholly-owned unit of Genting Berhad, has invested $31.5m, as part of a $112m commitment, in Singapore-based biotech upstart TauRx.
TauRx says the rest of the investment should be completed before the end of the year.
Genting, a company with widespread investments in Asia will now own a 20% stake in TauRx, the largest of any shareholder, along with a board seat.
Founded in 2002, TauRx develops new treatments and diagnostics for a range of neurodegenerative diseases based. The biotech says it has raised $300m in the 10 years since the company was founded.
Professor Claude Wischik, a UK scientist and executive chairman of TauRx, said: “This investment by GMS affirms Genting’s confidence in TauRx and will be directed to the conduct of our pivotal global Phase 3 clinical trials in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease with LMTX, TauRx’s tau aggregation inhibitor”.
According to TauRx, its Phase II trial for an earlier version demonstrated a 90% reduction in the rate of disease progression over two years.