- Hevolution Foundation and Dolby Family Ventures join ND Capital as additional institutional investors bringing Series A funding to a total of $30.7M (CHF28.3M)
- Vandria’s lead CNS compound VNA-318 is a mitophagy inducer about to enter clinical development with a unique dual mode of action of immediate improvement of cognitive function paired with long-term disease-modifying effects
- Series A runway now extends through a dose-finding first-in-man Phase 1 study and the initiation of three parallel Phase 1b / 2a efficacy studies planned for 2025
- Mitophagy platform has additional potential in CNS indications including cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and other forms of dementia with a wider portfolio of programs addressing other age-related and chronic diseases of muscle, lung and liver
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Aug. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vandria SA, a company at the vanguard of mitochondrial therapeutics developing first-in-class small molecule mitophagy inducers, today announced the second closing of its Series A financing bringing the final amount raised to date to $30.7M (CHF28.3M). Hevolution Foundation and Dolby Family Ventures joined the lead founding venture investor ND Capital.
Vandria is developing first-in-class small molecule mitophagy inducers against a novel target to rejuvenate cells and treat age-related and chronic diseases.
Hevolution Foundation is focused on investing in innovative science to support healthy aging. Dolby Family Ventures, in life sciences, invests in early-stage precision neuroscience and platform companies. In association with the financing, Jens Eckstein, Investment Partner at Hevolution Foundation, will join Vandria’s board of directors.
Jens Eckstein, Investment Partner, Hevolution Foundation, said, “We are excited by the potential of mitophagy as a new therapeutic approach with strong disease-modifying effects for an aging world population that faces cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Vandria’s pipeline offers even wider potential to address other age-related and chronic diseases of the muscle, lung and liver. This investment aligns with our mission to fund innovations that help catalyse the shift from lifespan to healthspan so that everyone can live healthier lives for longer.”
Sourav Kole, Managing Director, Dolby Family Ventures, said, “Given the association of mitophagy to neurodegeneration and other disorders and Vandria’s robust preclinical dataset in showing neuroprotective effects and the potential to improve cognition, we are delighted to invest in the company to demonstrate this potential via clinical studies.”
Since the first Series A close in December at $20.6M (CHF 18M), backed by ND Capital and a small syndicate of private investors, Vandria has made rapid progress. It has further developed its platform and portfolio, and advanced its lead program, VNA-318, a patent-protected, brain-penetrant, first-in-class mitophagy inducer. VNA-318 is on track to enter clinical trials in Europe in the coming weeks. The company has also expanded its team and moved to dedicated lab facilities at Superlab Suisse on the Biopôle Lausanne campus.
In addition to the equity financing, Vandria has secured CHF4.2M in prestigious non-dilutive funding: two Innosuisse grants to support VNA-318 and a Eurostars grant to support the generation of pre-clinical data for mitophagy drug candidates in Vandria’s muscle program.
Klaus Dugi, CEO of Vandria, said: “I am delighted to welcome Hevolution Foundation and Dolby Family Ventures, alongside ND Capital, to support our transformation into a clinical stage company. This Financing will enable us to progress further in clinical development with runway from the series A to complete the Single Ascending Dose (SAD) and Multiple Ascending Dose (MAD) first-in-man Phase 1 study of VNA-318 and to initiate three parallel Phase 1b / 2a efficacy studies in 2025, subject to positive progress in the Phase 1 and regulatory approvals.”
About mitophagy and VNA-318
Vandria discovers and develops inhibitors of a novel target that results in both the induction of mitophagy - the selective removal and replacement of damaged mitochondria - and anti-inflammatory effects. The target has strong genetic links to several human diseases.
In preclinical studies, Vandria’s lead candidate, VNA-318, has been consistently shown to acutely improve memory and learning. Additionally, VNA-318 has strong disease-modifying effects in models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Toxicity studies have demonstrated VNA-318 has a wide safety window.
VNA-318 is being developed for patients with early-stage CNS and neurodegenerative disorders and is intended to improve cognition and limit memory loss progression. The global market for Alzheimer’s disease alone is estimated at $7.6 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% to 2035, driven by an aging population, improved diagnosis, and a growing awareness and understanding of the condition and its implications.
In addition to VNA-318, Vandria has a pipeline of other mitophagy-inducing small molecules to address unmet medical need in muscle, lung, and liver diseases.
A composition of matter patent covering VNA-318 and other compounds has been issued by the US Patent Office.
For further information contact:
Vandria
info@vandria.com
Media Enquiries
Charles Consultants
Sue Charles – Sue@charles-consultants.com +44 (0)7968 726585
About Vandria
Vandria is at the vanguard of mitochondrial therapeutics. It is developing first-in-class mitophagy inducers that rejuvenate cells to treat age-related and chronic diseases. Its lead program, VNA-318 is a brain-penetrant, patent-protected, mitophagy inducer which has been shown to acutely improve memory and learning and to have strong disease-modifying effects in models of neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. VNA-318 is expected to enter the clinic in 2024. The company is also developing mitophagy-inducing small molecules to address muscle, lung, and liver diseases. A separate program targets ferroptosis, a form of cell death implicated in neurodegenerative diseases and ischemia reperfusion injury.
Based at the EPFL Innovation Park in Lausanne Switzerland, Vandria was spun out of Amazentis SA in 2021 by its founders Patrick Aebischer, Chris Rinsch, and Johan Auwerx. The company has raised $30.7M (CHF28.3M) in venture finance from ND Capital, Hevolution Foundation, Dolby Family Ventures and private investors.
Read more: https://vandria.com/
Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vandria-sa/about/
About Hevolution Foundation
Launched in 2021, Hevolution Foundation is a first-of-its-kind global non-profit organization that provides grants and early-stage investments to incentivize independent research and entrepreneurship in the emerging field of healthspan science. With a focus on aging as a treatable process, Hevolution aims to increase the number of aging-related treatments on the market, compress the timeline of drug development, and increase accessibility to therapeutics that extend healthy lifespan. Hevolution is headquartered in Riyadh with a North American hub in Boston, with plans to expand to other global locations, supporting a cutting-edge, global ecosystem of talent to propel aging and geroscience research forward and achieve medical breakthroughs to help humanity live healthier, longer. Over the last 21 months, Hevolution has committed over $400M in funding.
Learn more: https://www.hevolution.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hevolution-f/
Dolby Family Ventures
Dolby Family Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage companies and backing visionary entrepreneurs solving the biggest science and engineering challenges across precision neuroscience, life sciences platforms, aerospace, climate, and digital deep tech since 2014. Over this time, Dolby Family Ventures has invested in about 100 companies across these sectors.
Learn more: www.dolbyventures.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dolbyventures/
