AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--VectorY Therapeutics, a biotech company developing innovative vectorized antibody therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the close of a €129 million ($138 million) Series A financing to advance its vectorized antibody programs in neurodegenerative diseases. The round was co-led by EQT Life Sciences and the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund.
New and existing investors also participated in the financing, including MRL Ventures Fund, a corporate venture arm of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ USA, Insight Partners, ALS Investment Fund, Forbion Ventures, BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and another known investor.
VectorY will use the proceeds to support the clinical development of VTx-002, its lead vectorized antibody program targeting TDP-43 for the treatment of ALS. The Company will also accelerate the development of its vectorized antibody platform and additional pipeline programs targeting proteinopathies causing other neurodegenerative diseases.
Sander van Deventer, CEO of VectorY, commented: “The Series A financing, supported by such a strong syndicate of European and US investors, is an endorsement of our pioneering approach, world-class team and commitment to bring much-needed therapies to patients with neurodegenerative diseases. The investment will enable us to advance our lead program VTx-002, a potentially disease-modifying therapy for ALS, into clinical development. Our program is uniquely positioned to address TDP-43 pathology, which underlies the disease in the vast majority of ALS patients. The series A will also support advancement of additional pipeline programs targeting proteinopathies in neurodegenerative diseases demonstrating the broad potential of our platform.”
Wouter Joustra, General Partner at Forbion, said: “VectorY is a prime example of a company build by Forbion through our Ventures arm, enabling initial proof of concept, and now stepping in with our Growth Opportunities fund to further support the company through significant value generating milestones. The Forbion team is excited to have been there from the beginning, supporting the development of an innovative technology that has the potential to overcome the limitations of current therapeutic approaches, to treat proteinopathy-driven diseases, including target selectivity, access to the CNS and durability of response.”
Arno de Wilde, Director at EQT Life Sciences, added: “We are very impressed with VectorY’s unique capabilities to combine gene and antibody therapy drug development with deep neuroscience expertise. The Company’s technology allows for targeted protein degradation while restoring or preserving normal protein function, with applications across multiple neurodegenerative diseases. EQT Life Sciences will invest from its Dementia Fund, led by Prof. Philip Scheltens, leveraging its specific expertise & network and joining VectorY in its mission to develop much needed treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.”
In connection with the financing, Wouter Joustra, General Partner at Forbion, Arno de Wilde, Director at EQT Life Sciences, and Karin Kleinhans, Partner at MRL Ventures Fund will join VectorY’s board of directors.
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Notes to Editors
About VectorY
VectorY is on a mission to provide patients with neurodegenerative diseases a longer, better life by creating transformative vectorized antibody treatments. Our platform combines the promise of precise therapeutic antibodies with one-time AAV-based delivery to the CNS. Unique in-house expertise in antibodies, AAV vectors, protein degradation, manufacturing and neuroscience drives the rapid development of much needed disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and Huntington’s disease. For more information, see www.vectorytx.com.
About VTx-002
VTx-002 is being developed to delay disease progression and preserve the quality of life of ALS patients. VTx-002, currently in preclinical development, is a vectorized antibody that selectively clears misfolded and aggregated TDP-43 from the cytoplasm of neuronal cells. Thereby, it restores the essential function of TDP-43 in the nucleus leading to preservation of neuronal cell function and health. ALS is a devastating condition that in the Western world has an estimated lifetime risk of 1:250 in males and 1:400 in females. It is characterized by the progressive degeneration of motor neurons, which leads to an average life expectancy after diagnosis of only two to five years. Presently there is no cure available to stop or reverse ALS and currently available treatments only slow disease progression by months.
