The round was led by New Leaf Venture Partners with participation from new investors Frazier Healthcare Partners, Longitude Capital, and Osage University Partners and existing investors Adams Street Partners, LVP Life Science Ventures, PathoCapital, Goudy Park Capital, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company, and Northwestern University.
In conjunction with the funding, Aptinyx added three members to its board of directors:
– Liam Ratcliffe, M.D., Ph.D., managing director of New Leaf Venture Partners;
– James Topper, M.D., Ph.D., managing general partner of Frazier Healthcare Partners; and
– Patrick Enright, founder and managing director of Longitude Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to conduct initial clinical studies for its lead drug candidate and discovery of additional small-molecule modulators of the NMDA receptor.
Led by Norbert Riedel, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, Aptinyx has a platform for discovering compounds that enhance synaptic plasticity, or strengthen the network for neural cell communication, a clinically validated mechanism with therapeutic potential across multiple nervous system conditions.
The company, which has completed IND-enabling studies of the first clinical candidate from its proprietary chemistry platform for discovery of small-molecule, orally bioavailable NMDA receptor modulators, expects to initiate Phase 1 studies in mid-2016.
FinSMEs
10/05/2016