CuraSen Therapeutics, Inc., a San Mateo, CA-based biotechnology company focused on developing therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases, closed a $54.5m Series A financing.
The round was led by New Leaf Venture Partners, with participation from Longitude Capital, funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC, Alta Partners, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), and Pappas Capital.
Led by Anthony Ford, PhD, chief executive officer and co-founder, CuraSen is developing small molecule drugs targeting a novel mechanism in the brain to alleviate disabling symptoms and modify disease pathology in patients who suffer from less common (orphan) neurodegenerative disorders as well as Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease. These symptoms include cognition, executive function, and motor and autonomic dysfunction.
More specifically, the company’s drugs are designed to activate certain receptor populations in the brain to compensate for critical neuronal and glial functions that have otherwise been lost due to degeneration.
The company was co-founded by:
– Mehrdad Shamloo, PhD, professor of Neuroscience and Neurosurgery, Stanford University,
– Robert Booth, PhD, former chief executive officer of ViroBay,
– Anthony Ford, PhD, chief executive officer, and
– Ms. Kathleen Sereda Glaub, executive chair.
FinSMEs
17/10/2018