Internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 led a $100m series C round yesterday for Neuron23, a US-based developer of therapuetics for neurological and immune conditions.
Kleiner Perkins, Westlake Village BioPartners, Cowen Healthcare Investments, Redmile Group, Acorn Bioventures, Cowen Healthcare Investments, HBM Partners, Perceptive Advisors and Surveyor Capital filled out the round.
Co-founded by biopharmaceutical company Origenis, Neuron23 uses genetic and artificial intelligence technology to develop treatments for a range of neurodegenerative, neuroinflammatory and systemic autoimmune diseases.
The series C proceeds will be put toward growing Neuron23’s clinical development team, data science capabilities and precision neuroimmunology platform. Its lead drug candidate is a brain-penetrant inhibitor of the LRRK2 gene intented to treat Parkinson’s disease.
The company came out of stealth in late 2020 with nearly $114m in series A and series B funding. Kleiner Perkins and Westlake Village BioPartners provided $33.5m in series A funding and both backed the Redmile Group-led series B, which included Cowen Healthcare Investments, Acorn Bioventures, HBM Partners, Perceptive Advisors and Surveyor Capital.
Neuron23 chief executive Nancy Stagliano said: “This round represents a strong endorsement of Neuron23’s approach to precision neurology which is extremely gratifying.
“As exemplified within our LRRK2 Parkinson’s disease programme, we intend to identify patients, using state-of-the-art machine learning tools, who are most likely to respond to our therapies, increasing the likelihood of success in the clinic and bringing the right medicines to the right patients.”
