Merck Serono, a division of German-based pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA, has spun off its third biotechnology company.
Merck Serono has invested €5m ($6.5m) of seed funding into its spin-off, Asceneuron, and its corporate venturing unit will manage the investment and be represented on the portfolio company’s board.
The spin-off is part of Merck Serono’s Entrepreneur Partnership Program (EPP), a €30m commitment launched in April for spin-offs and start-ups focused on continuing activities and compounds that originate at Merck Serono. Asceneuron focuses on developing treatment for Alzheimer drugs.
Mark Serono’s EPP program previous spin-offs are Parkinson drug specialists Prexton Therapeutics and Quartz Bio, a company which offers biomarker data management and exploratory biomarker analysis services.