VectorY Therapeutics, a biotech company developing innovative vectorized antibody therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, announced the close of a €129 million ($138 million) Series A financing to advance its vectorized antibody programs in neurodegenerative diseases. The round was co-led by EQT Life Sciences and the Forbion Growth Opportunities Fund.
New and existing investors also participated in the financing, including MRL Ventures Fund, a corporate venture arm of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ USA, Insight Partners, ALS Investment Fund, Forbion Ventures, BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) and another known investor.
VectorY will use the proceeds to support the clinical development of VTx-002, its lead vectorized antibody program targeting TDP-43 for the treatment of ALS. The Company will also accelerate the development of its vectorized antibody platform and additional pipeline programs targeting proteinopathies causing other neurodegenerative diseases.
Sander van Deventer, CEO of VectorY, commented: “The Series A financing, supported by such a strong syndicate of European and US investors, is an endorsement of our pioneering approach, world-class team and commitment to bring much-needed therapies to patients with neurodegenerative diseases. The investment will enable us to advance our lead program VTx-002, a potentially disease-modifying therapy for ALS, into clinical development. Our program is uniquely positioned to address TDP-43 pathology, which underlies the disease in the vast majority of ALS patients. The series A will also support advancement of additional pipeline programs targeting proteinopathies in neurodegenerative diseases demonstrating the broad potential of our platform.”
Wouter Joustra, General Partner at Forbion, said: “VectorY is a prime example of a company build by Forbion through our Ventures arm, enabling initial proof of concept, and now stepping in with our Growth Opportunities fund to further support the company through significant value generating milestones. The Forbion team is excited to have been there from the beginning, supporting the development of an innovative technology that has the potential to overcome the limitations of current therapeutic approaches, to treat proteinopathy-driven diseases, including target selectivity, access to the CNS and durability of response.”
Arno de Wilde, Director at EQT Life Sciences, added: “We are very impressed with VectorY’s unique capabilities to combine gene and antibody therapy drug development with deep neuroscience expertise. The Company’s technology allows for targeted protein degradation while restoring or preserving normal protein function, with applications across multiple neurodegenerative diseases. EQT Life Sciences will invest from its Dementia Fund, led by Prof. Philip Scheltens, leveraging its specific expertise & network and joining VectorY in its mission to develop much needed treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.”
In connection with the financing, Wouter Joustra, General Partner at Forbion, Arno de Wilde, Director at EQT Life Sciences, and Karin Kleinhans, Partner at MRL Ventures Fund will join VectorY’s board of directors.