Neurimmune co-leads USD 30 million Series B financing of NovaGo Therapeutics to advance anti-Nogo-A antibody NG004 for the treatment of acute spinal cord injury
Neurimmune announced today that NovaGo Therapeutics, a company of the Neurimmune group, closed a USD 30 million Series B financing round, co-led by Neurimmune and Pureos Bioventures, with participation from additional new and existing investors. The equity financing is complemented by substantial non-dilutive funding from the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation and Wings for Life – Spinal Cord Research Foundation. The proceeds will be used to advance NovaGo's anti-Nogo-A antibody NG004 into a proof-of-concept study in patients with acute spinal cord injury.
"Together with NovaGo Therapeutics, we are pioneering a novel approach for the treatment of spinal cord injury using a fully human therapeutic antibody designed to promote nerve outgrowth after injury," said Prof. Roger M. Nitsch, President and Chief Executive Officer of Neurimmune and a member of the Board of Directors of NovaGo Therapeutics. "We are encouraged by the promising Phase 1 results with NG004 and look forward to advancing the clinical development program together with NovaGo Therapeutics and our co-investors, with generous support from the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation and Wings for Life."
“We are deeply grateful for the backing of our investors. Support from Wings for Life and the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation have also been instrumental, helping make this crucial development phase possible,” said Stefan Moese, Chief Executive Officer of NovaGo Therapeutics. "Their commitment allows us to move forward with the proof-of-concept study and work toward bringing a much-needed treatment to patients affected by the devastating consequences of spinal cord injury."
NovaGo Therapeutics is a company of the Neurimmune group and was founded in 2015 as a spin-off company from Prof. Martin Schwab’s labs at the University of Zurich. NG004 is a fully human antibody derived from Neurimmune's proprietary RTMTM (Reverse Translational Medicine) technology platform. NG004 is designed to neutralize Nogo-A, a protein that inhibits nerve fiber regeneration and neuroplasticity in the central nervous system, with the goal of enabling functional recovery after spinal cord injury. NovaGo Therapeutics has recently completed a Phase 1 open-label study in patients with acute spinal cord injury and has initiated SPROUT II, a fully randomized, double-blind proof-of-concept study enrolling 120 patients across sites in Germany, Spain, and Switzerland.
About NovaGo Therapeutics
NovaGo Therapeutics AG is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel anti-Nogo-A biologics to promote nerve regeneration and functional recovery in patients with diseases and injuries of the central nervous system, including spinal cord injury, stroke, and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Founded on pioneering research into Nogo-A as a key inhibitor of neuronal regeneration, NovaGo is advancing its lead candidate through clinical development with the goal of delivering the first regenerative treatment for patients with acute spinal cord injury. NovaGo is based in Switzerland.
About Neurimmune
Neurimmune is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building next-generation antibody therapeutics. The company pioneers amyloid depletion as a novel therapeutic mechanism to treat CNS and related protein aggregation diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and ATTR cardiomyopathy. Neurimmune discovered the anti-ATTR antibody cliramitug (formerly NI006, ALXN2220, Phase 3) for ATTR cardiomyopathy, the anti-misfolded SOD1 antibody AP-101 (Phase 2) for ALS, the anti-NogoA antibody NG004 (Phase 1) for spinal cord injury and the anti-amyloid light chain antibody NI009 (preclinical) for AL amyloidosis.
Contact for Media
Camilla White (US)
camilla.white@dgagroup.com
Martin Meier-Pfister (Switzerland)
media@neurimmune.com