Cortexyme Files for $86 Million IPO to Advance Bacterial Protease Inhibitor COR388 for Alzheimer’s Disease

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that biopharmaceutical company Cortexyme recently filed a preliminary prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating its plan to list on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol CRTX and raise $86 million. BofA Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse are serving as joint bookrunners for the transaction.

Cortexyme, founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel modulatory therapies for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. According to Crunchbase, the company has completed five rounds of financing since its inception, raising a total of approximately $100 million. Notably, in January 2016, it closed a $15 million Series A financing round led by Takeda Ventures and Pfizer; in May 2018, it secured a $76 million Series B financing round with participation from investors including Sequoia Capital and Pfizer.

Stephen Dominy, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Cortexyme, discovered the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis) and its secreted toxic virulence factors, gingipains, in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. P. gingivalis is an infectious pathogen associated with the progression of neurodegenerative diseases and chronic inflammation; animal studies conducted by the company have shown that this bacterium can induce Alzheimer’s disease.

Cortexyme has developed its lead drug candidate, COR388, a bacterial protease inhibitor targeting Porphyromonas gingivalis. As a small-molecule oral medication, COR388 combats pathogens through a mechanism distinct from that of broad-spectrum antibiotics; it mitigates bacterial virulence, reduces neuronal damage in the brain, and prevents further cognitive decline in patients.

Currently, Cortexyme has completed the Phase I clinical trial of COR388. The trial evaluated the drug in Alzheimer’s disease patients aged 20 to 70 years, demonstrating that COR388 has a favorable safety and tolerability profile, as well as good pharmacokinetic characteristics upon oral administration. It is reported that the company will initiate a Phase II trial in the second quarter of 2019 to assess the drug’s efficacy, with results expected to be announced by the end of 2021.

It is understood that Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most widespread neurodegenerative disorders globally, affecting over 15 million people worldwide. Due to the lack of effective treatments, the number of patients is projected to rise to 75 million by 2030. Data indicate that Alzheimer’s disease represents a major challenge in the biopharmaceutical sector, with clinical trial failure rates for drug candidates exceeding 99%. In recent years, most biopharmaceutical companies have focused on amyloid and tau proteins as therapeutic targets for Alzheimer’s disease, yet no breakthroughs have been achieved to date. Now, Cortexyme has identified Porphyromonas gingivalis as a novel therapeutic target, marking a significant breakthrough in the field of Alzheimer’s research and holding promise to become the standard of care for this disease.

(Compiled by Jiao Yanli)