Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. (Neumora), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering precision medicines for brain diseases through the integration of data science and neuroscience, announced the close of a $112 million Series B financing. The Series B syndicate includes both new and existing investors, such as Abu Dhabi Growth Fund (ADG), Altitude Life Science Ventures, Amgen, ARCH Venture Partners, Exor Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Invus, Mubadala Capital, Newpath Partners, Polaris Partners and other undisclosed investors. The funding will support the advancement of a broad clinical and preclinical pipeline of novel precision medicine candidates for neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases and the development of the company’s precision neuroscience platform.
“This Series B financing reflects Neumora’s continued progress in building a best-in-class neuroscience company, including assembling a world-class team, scaling up an industry-leading data science and translational neuroscience platform, and advancing a broad and growing pipeline of seven development programs, including our internal discovery efforts and business development activities,” said Paul L. Berns, co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Neumora. “This considerable amount of progress in such a short period of time reflects our urgency to address the relative lack of progress and innovation in neuroscience with our data-driven, precision medicine approach.”
Neumora continues to advance a broad and growing pipeline of clinical and preclinical programs, including a balance of both clinically validated and novel approaches targeting a broad range of underserved neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. The company recently completed enrollment in a Phase 2a clinical trial for its most advanced product candidate, NMRA-140, a kappa opioid receptor antagonist in development for the treatment of major depressive disorder. Neumora is also progressing NMRA-511, a clinical-stage vasopressin 1a receptor antagonist in development for neuropsychiatric disorders, and NMRA-266, an M4 muscarinic receptor positive allosteric modulator being advanced toward initiation of Phase 1 development for schizophrenia in 2023. The company’s earlier-stage pipeline includes multiple first-in-class opportunities in preclinical development, including neurodegeneration programs focused on Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“We are pleased to have the support of this leading group of both new and existing investors that share our vision and excitement with our progress to date,” said Joshua Pinto, Ph.D., chief financial officer of Neumora. “With this Series B financing, we have successfully raised approximately $650 million in capital, resulting in a very strong financial position to continue advancing our broad pipeline through multiple near-term value-creating milestones.”
Neumora was founded to pioneer a new era of precision neuroscience medicines by using patient enrichment strategies to help potentially improve clinical development success rates. The company’s proprietary approach leverages recent advances in data science and translational neuroscience to cut through the heterogeneity inherent in brain disease. By approaching patient enrichment and clinical development strategies through this lens, Neumora aims to match the right patient populations to the right targeted therapeutics, thereby driving innovation and the potential for clinical development success in this field and, ultimately, providing better therapies to patients.
In connection with the completion of the Series B financing, Alaa Halawa, partner and head of U.S. Ventures at Mubadala Capital, joined Neumora’s board of directors. Mr. Halawa said, “We are proud to partner with Neumora in helping advance the company’s efforts to build the precision neuroscience company of the future. The integration of technology, namely AI/ML, and proprietary clinical data is helping us develop a deeper understanding of the complex drivers of brain disease to develop novel treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases – we are humbled to be part of their journey.”