Therapy Areas: Infectious Diseases
Modag Launches Out of Stealth Mode with series A Financing of EUR 12 m to Develop Treatments for Parkinsonian Disorders, Including Multiple System Atrophy
28 June 2019 - - Germany-based biotechnology company Modag has completed a EUR 12 m series A financing round, launching out of stealth mode to advance lead candidate anle138b into clinical development in Multiple System Atrophy, the company said.
The company was founded in 2013 based on research conducted by Prof. Dr. Giese (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) and Prof. Dr. Griesinger (Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry) examining protein aggregation and its toxic properties in neurodegenerative diseases to develop therapeutic options for conditions without available disease-modifying treatments.
Anle138b aims to halt the progression of MSA, an atypical form of Parkinsonism, by addressing the core disease pathology.
The financing round was led by Massa Investment AG and will support the corporate growth as well as the clinical development of anle138b, which has already demonstrated the potential to halt MSA progression in preclinical studies.
Jeff Putman of Massa Investment AG will join the company's board.
In addition to the financing, Modag appointed Dr. Torsten Matthias as chief executive officer and Prof. Dr. Armin Giese as chief scientific officer. Dr. Matthias brings with him two decades of experience in entrepreneurship and operations management.
Prof. Dr. Giese, a leading expert in the field of neuropathology, contributes over twenty years of scientific expertise in the neurodegenerative disease space, having published in leading peer-reviewed neuroscience journals.
Anle138b is a small molecule compound that specifically binds toxic oligomeric structures of alpha-synuclein, the core aggregating protein species in Parkinsonian disorders.
Through the binding, it effectively dissolves the toxic oligomers and prevents new oligomer formation, addressing the disease at its core.
Initial pre-clinical studies in Parkinson's and MSA animal models have demonstrated the ability to halt disease progression and alleviate symptoms in vivo, effectively preventing the disease from causing further damage by stopping the accumulation of pathological protein aggregates in the brain.
Anle138b's chemical structure further allows the compound to be applied orally and to effectively penetrate the blood brain barrier, an important feature of neurological drug candidates.
The novel in-licensed SERY technology will further enable Modag to create next-generation compounds with additional pharmacological features with the potential to develop alternative dosing schemes as well as address different patient populations.
The appointed CEO, Dr. Matthias, has twenty years of experience as the owner, CEO and CSO of the worldwide operating Aesku.Group, a research-focused producer and supplier of innovative and efficient products and services for the early detection, diagnosis, and prognosis of autoimmunity, infectious serology, allergy, and food intolerance.
Dr. Matthias holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Doctorate in Physical Biochemistry from the Technical University of Dresden, a doctorate in the field of Biochemistry and Gene Technology from the University of Bielefeld and has published over 200 scientific publications to date.
Prior to joining Modag as CSO, Prof. Dr. Giese was Acting Head of Department at the Center for Neuropathology and Prion Research at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.
He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University College London, Medical Licenses from the University of Kiel, and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Göttingen.
Prof. Dr. Giese is a board-certified neuropathologist at the Bavarian Chamber of Physicians (Landesärztekammer Bavaria), and has published over 130 scientific publications being cited over 12,000 times.
His work focused on the role of protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Giese used single particle spectroscopy to identify novel aggregation inhibitors with high in vivo efficacy.
These and other findings formed the basis for the foundation of MODAG GmbH in 2013.
Multiple System Atrophy is a currently non-curable neurological disorder characterized by neurodegeneration in several parts of the brain including the basal ganglia and the cerebellum.
It is characterised by a build-up of pathologically aggregated alpha-synuclein proteins in neuronal and glial cells.
Patients experience an array of symptoms, including movement, balance, and autonomic function disorders. Current drugs do not address the cause of the disease and are only capable of treating symptoms which progress alongside the disease.
MSA is classified as a rare disease with an incident rate of approximately 0.6 cases per 100,000 people annually in the European Union.
In Europe/US/JP, there are approximately 50,000 MSA patients. The mean age of onset of the disease is in the sixth decade of life. The mean survival period after the onset of the disease is 6-10 years.
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