Endogena completes $8 million financing and extends Series A round to advance its novel treatments for neurodegenerative diseases
Oversubscribed Series A-1 funding round completed
San Francisco, USA and Zürich, Switzerland, 27 January 2021
Endogena Therapeutics Inc., which discovers and develops endogenous regenerative medicines, today announced that it has successfully completed a first round of Series A financing, which was capped at $8 million.
These funds will enable the company to establish clinical proof-of-concept for its lead program for retinitis pigmentosa. In addition, Endogena will advance its age-related macular degeneration (AMD) program to IND, as well as develop additional programs, leveraging the company’s artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platform.
Matthias Steger, CEO of Endogena, said: “This Series A-1 funding will enable us to complete first clinical proof-of-concept studies of our novel treatment paradigm for patients with this devastating degenerative eye condition.”
This first round of Series A financing was led by existing investors, Rejuveron Life Sciences AG and DEFTA Partners, with new investors joining the syndicate.
Elona Baum, Managing Director of DEFTA Partners, said:
“As Endogena’s founding investors, we recognise the promise of this technology platform. We’re confident that the depth of experience brought by Matthias Steger, the company’s founder, will stand Endogena in good stead to bring forward novel treatments for patients.”
Christian Angermayer, Chairman of Rejuveron Life Sciences AG, said: “Endogena’s AI-driven platform combines state-of-the-art stem cell research know- how with small molecule drug discovery expertise, has shown promising results in a short timespan. We’re convinced that this could result in breakthrough therapies in several indications.”
Retinitis pigmentosa is a group of inherited diseases causing slow and progressive retinal degeneration and loss of vision, for which there is currently no cure. It is the leading cause of inherited blindness, with an estimated 1.5 million people worldwide presently affected.
Endogena’s novel, small-molecule approach is gene-independent, which has significant advantages in this condition that has multiple genetic causes.
For more information, please visit www.endogena.com.
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About Rejuveron
Rejuveron is a clinical-stage biotechnology company creating therapies to improve healthy aging. Its experienced drug discovery and development team applies a deep understanding of the biology of aging, alongside technological advances in biopharmaceutical R&D, to progress a new generation of medicines that will help people to age better and live longer.
Through its programs, each uniquely focused on preventing, repairing, or reversing the hallmarks of aging, Rejuveron is advancing a therapeutic pipeline that ranges from drug discovery to the clinic. Rejuveron’s business model is to create or acquire innovative programs, each being held within a wholly owned or majority-owned company.
The current portfolio is diversified across modalities, stages, as well as aging hallmarks, and includes a revolutionary small molecule approach to regenerate endogenous stem cell, currently in a Phase 1/2a in the USA in retinitis pigmentosa patients; a novel drug combination therapy for sarcopenia in a Phase 1b human trial.
Rejuveron has headquarters and state-of-the-art laboratories in Switzerland’s biotech hub in Bio-Technopark Schlieren, Zürich with Abu Dhabi operations in the process of being set up. Its current portfolio includes: Endogena Therapeutics (Switzerland, USA & Canada), Rejuveron Senescence Therapeutics (Switzerland & Spain), Rejuveron Vascular Therapeutics (Switzerland), Rejuveron Telomere Therapeutics (Switzerland), Rejuvenate BioMed (Belgium) and Boost Neuroscience (US).
Co-founded in 2019 by entrepreneurial scientist, Matthias Steger, and visionary investor, Christian Angermayer, Rejuveron has state-of-the-art incubator laboratory facilities and offices at its headquarters in Zürich’s Bio-Technopark (Switzerland) as well as program teams located in the USA, Canada, Spain and Belgium.
