Galantos Pharma Raises € 4.4 Million to Advance its Alzheimer's Dementia Strategy

05-May-2010 - Germany

Galantos Pharma announced the successful finalization of its C financing round to bring its leading compound Memogain® for Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) into the clinic and to develop novel neuroprotective AD compounds. The investors VRP (Rhineland Palatinate Fund), KfW (German State Bank), FIB (Investment Bank Rhineland Palatinate), WFT (Venture Fund Rhineland Palatinate), and HTGF (High-Tech Fund) together with public co-funding from the BMBF (German Ministry for education and Research) will provide Galantos with € 4.4 million (US-$ 5.7 million) until the end of 2011. At that time Memogain® is planned to be out-licensed and a new neuroprotective candidate will be selected for preclinical development.

Memogain® is the front runner of Galantos’ AD strategy, utilizing allosteric sensitization of nicotinic receptors. Prof. Dr. Alfred Maelicke, founder and CSO of Galantos, had discovered that marketed natural galantamine, usually being isolated from daffodil bulbs, is not merely an esterase inhibitor like other synthetic AD compounds, but also acts on neuronal nicotinic receptors enhancing their efficacy. This activity is unique for galantamine within the marketed AD medications. However, when clinically applied to humans, galantamine dosing is limited by gastro-intestinal (GI) side effects (frequent nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea). Galantos has invented the pro-drug Memogain® with much improved brain penetration, showing higher potency and absence of peripheral side effects in multiple animal models. The improvement is expected to enable full translation of disease modification, seen in animal models, into the clinic.

Galantos is actively pursuing follow-up compounds with more efficient and selective chemical scaffolds than presently available drugs, including galantamine. Given the important role of nicotinic alpha 7 receptors in regulating calcium homeostasis and neuronal survival, such sensitizers have great potential in CNS diseases with impaired cognition and neurodegeneration, including AD, schizophrenia, depression and Parkinson’s disease.

https://www.bionity.com/en/news/117188/galantos-pharma-raises-4-4-million-to-advance-its-alzheimer-s-dementia-strategy.html