EIP Pharma Secures $11.2 Million Financing to Advance Neflamapimod for Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Huntington’s Disease

VCBeat (WeChat Official Account: vcbeat) has learned that EIP Pharma, a Massachusetts-based company, announced the completion of an $11.2 million financing round on April 15 local time. Investors in this round included Adage Capital Management, Rock Springs Capital, and Mossrock Capital.

Since its establishment in 2010, EIP Pharma has raised over $41.1 million in cumulative funding. Previously, the company completed a $400,000 angel round in January 2017, a Series B financing in May 2018, and a $9 million Series B+ round in December 2018. The proceeds from this round will be used to fund the Phase IIb clinical trial of the new drug neflamapimod.

EIP Pharma specializes in the treatment of central nervous system disorders. The company expects to initiate Phase IIb clinical trials of its new drug, neflamapimod, starting in the second quarter of this year, exploring the use of neflamapimod for treating cognitive impairment associated with Dementia with Lewy Bodies and Huntington’s disease. Neflamapimod (formerly known as VX-745) is a brain-penetrant oral small molecule that inhibits p38α activation by the intracellular enzyme p38 MAPK. In patients with Alzheimer’s disease, p38α is expressed in neurons, which is considered a key driver of symptoms such as memory impairment in Alzheimer’s disease.

In May 2015, EIP Pharma initiated two Phase IIa clinical trials in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease: one was a 12-week treatment study conducted at the VU Medical Center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the other was a 6-week treatment study conducted in Los Angeles. Both studies were completed in early 2017.

Phase IIa clinical trial results include: neflamapimod treats the disease by entering the brain; preliminary evidence indicates that neflamapimod improved outcomes on episodic memory function tests; neflamapimod demonstrates pharmacological activity in the brain; and neflamapimod is well tolerated in patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

“The ongoing REVERSE-SD trial, which investigates the role of neflamapimod in treating patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, will yield clinical trial results this autumn. However, synaptic toxicity driven by neuroinflammation has become a major driver of cognitive impairment in most neurodegenerative diseases. This new funding will enable us to evaluate the effects of neflamapimod on dementia with Lewy bodies and Huntington’s disease-related cognitive deficits,” said Dr. John Alam, President and CEO of EIP Pharma.

Adage Capital Management (hereinafter referred to as “Adage”) is a Boston-based asset management firm with approximately $890 million in assets under management. Over the past 15 years, Adage has delivered an average annual return that outperformed the S&P Index by 3.5%. The fund is managed by Phill Gross. Prior to founding Adage, Mr. Gross spent 18 years at Harvard Management Company, where he served as a healthcare and retail analyst, Director of Equity Research, and a partner at the firm.

Rock Springs Capital is an investment firm based in Maryland, USA, providing investment management services to corporate and institutional clients.

Reference Link:

http://www.eippharma.com/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/eip-pharma-closes-11-2-million-financing-round-to-advance-development-of-neflamapimod-in-additional-neurodegenerative-disease-indications-300831839.html?tc=eml_cleartime                  

(Compiled by: Liu Na)