Nan Fung Life Sciences, the healthcare investment arm of property development conglomerate Nan Fung, led a $32m series A round for Engrail Therapeutics, a US-based developer of treatments for nervous system disorders.
Founded in 2019, Engrail is working on medicines that are focusing on the nervous system, using a biological understanding of disease to create drugs based on validated mechanisms and the most promising compounds.
The funding will support clinical development of the startup’s first product candidate, ENX-101. It has not revealed the identity of any investors apart from Nan Fung.
Vikram Sudarsan, Engrail’s president and CEO, said: “Neuroscience is making massive strides. As the brain’s complexities and molecular mechanisms have become clearer, we are better able to identify disease targets, which has also a supported a resurgence in funding neuroscience drug development.
“These factors have contributed to recent clinical and commercial success across the industry. However, significant unmet needs persist, placing immense disease burden on patients.
“Our goal is to build a leading neuroscience company fueled by a robust pipeline. We are focused on the acquisition, development and commercialisation of patient-centric neuroscience therapeutics. ENX-101 represents the first milestone in this effort.”
