Merck KGaA Spinout Prexton Nabs $31 Million to Fund Phase II Parkinson's Trials

Merck KGaA Spinout Prexton Nabs $31 Million to Fund Phase II Parkinson's Trials February 7, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Geneva, Switzerland and Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Prexton Therapeutics announced today that it had closed a $31 million Series B financing round. It was co-led by Forbion Capital Partners and Seroba Life Sciences. Current investors Merck Ventures, Ysios Capital and Sunstone Capital participated.

In addition, Marco Boorsma, from Forbion, and Alan O’Connell, of Seroba, will join the company’s board of directors.

Prexton was spun out in 2012 from Merck KgaA by Francois Conquet and Merck Ventures. Or as John Carroll, writing for Endpoints News says, “Nearly five years ago, Prexton Therapeutics was the first new biotech to be spun out of the wreckage left behind after Merck KGaA decided to shutter its big Serono operations in Geneva and retrench back in Darmstadt.”

The company’s chief executive officer, Francois Conquet, has focused his career on glutamate receptors in central nervous system (CNS) diseases. In 2002, he founded Addex Therapeutics (ADXN.SW?ltr=1). He left three years later, but Addex is currently planning a Phase III trial of its mGluR5 drug for Parkinson’s disease. The work with Prexton focuses on mGluR4, what Carroll describes as “an alternative approach to using dopamine to control the motor symptoms of Parkinson’s.”

Prexton plans to use the $31 million to advance two Phase II studies of Foliglurax (formerly PXT002331) in Parkinson’s disease. Both trials will begin this year in Europe and the U.S.

According to a discussion between Boorsma and Carroll, the first clinical trial will be held in Europe. Its primary endpoints will be Parkinson’s symptoms. The second clinical trial will be in the U.S. The primary endpoint for that trial will be levodopa-induced dyskinesia.

“So the idea,” Boorsma told Carroll in an email, “is to treat different stages of PD and open regulatory files in Europe (EMA) and U.S. (FDA).”

“We have developed a strong package of primate and Phase I clinical data with Foliglurax,” Conquet said in a statement. “We are now keen to begin our Phase II efficacy trials and continue the development of Foliglurax as a potential new therapeutic for Parkinson’s disease.”

Less than a year ago, Prexton raised about $10.8 million in a Series A round. Prexton, along with Merck Serono, developed the metabotropic glutamate receptor 4 (mGluR4) positive allosteric modulator (PAM) under license agreements with Domain Therapeutics. That agreement was inked in 2013, and Domain gave Prexton optimized compounds as part of the $166 million option agreement.

“As part of the funding round, we are helping Prexton set up operations in The Netherlands and supporting the company in starting trials,” said Marco Boorsman, in a statement. “We have been very impressed with the science behind Foliglurax and the alternative route being explored by Prexton to treat this difficult disease. Early data is encouraging and we believe Prexton’s approach could make a significant difference in developing new treatment options for patients.”

On March 7, 2016, Prexton announced the launch of its Phase I clinical trial of its mGluR4 molecule. The company stated that its “innovative approach in the treatment of Parkinson’s is unique as it stimulates a compensatory neuronal system that is not impacted by the disease. Competitors in this area mostly target the dompaminergic system, which does not address all symptoms and is accompanied by a number of adverse effects. Prexton’s compound activates a specific target of the glutamatergic system, with the goal of providing a robust therapeutic effect without the occurrence of adverse events.”

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