APRINOIA Therapeutics Closes US$11 Million Series B Financing to Advance Its Tau PET Imaging Tracer and Tau Therapeutic Programs for Alzheimer's Disease
TAIPEI, Taiwan, Jan. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- APRINOIA Therapeutics Inc., a clinical-stage neuroscience biotech company, focuses on tau, alpha-synuclein, and novel targets for neurodegenerative diseases, announces today the completion of its US$11.1 million Series B round. The Series B round was led by KTB Network (Korea) and DCI Partners (Japan), along with participations from ShangPharma Investment Group (China) and TaiAn Technologies (Taiwan). The proceeds of the funding will be used to finance preclinical and clinical development for APRINOIA's imaging diagnostic and therapeutic pipelines.
APRINOIA will assemble the diverse resources brought into the company by the investors across several countries in Asia to accelerate the development of its programs. The Company's most advanced tau PET imaging tracer, 18F-PM-PBB3, has shown great potential in visualising tau pathologies in Alzheimer's and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP) patients in clinical studies conducted in early 2017 and the results have been well-received.
"Our tracers will provide precise diagnosis of tau pathologies for patients and potentially for people without obvious clinical symptoms. More importantly, the tracers will be crucial for developing therapeutics and helping doctors precisely prescribe treatments and track treatment efficacies in patients," said Ming-Kuei Jang, founder and CEO of APRINOIA. "We are also very excited about the progress we have made with our therapeutic platforms. We are building collections of small molecules and antibodies with diverse properties and therapeutic potentials. We are fortunate to have dedicated teams, collaborators, and investors working together to find comprehensive solutions for our research and medical communities, and ultimately for our patients."
"We are thrilled to invest in APRINOIA alongside with top-tier investors in the life science industry. Moreover, we are delighted to partner with world class talents at APRINOIA," said, Kevin Kuk Hyun Kyung from KTB Network, who has joined the board of director in conjunction with Series B lead financing. "Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, and Dementia in general are the biggest unmet needs in the healthcare industry and society, causing large economic and social cost. But, we believe that APRINOIA's vision and expertise in creating the first and the best-in-class innovative tau PET tracer and therapeutic programs, will significantly address the current unsolved issues of these diseases," added, Jiwoong Chun Healthcare Investment leader from KTB Network.
APRINOIA previously raised the total of US$6.4 million in its Seed and Series A round, which supported the completion of preclinical development and the initiation of clinical development for its 2nd generation tau PET imaging tracer, 18F-PM-PBB3, in the USA and in Japan. The Company has invested rigorously in building a strong R&D team for executing its current and future pipeline development, including a 3rd generation tau PET imaging tracer, alpha-synuclein PET imaging tracer, and two distinctive therapeutic programs.
More information about APRINOIA Therapeutics and its technology can be found on its website: www.aprinoia.com
About APRINOIA Therapeutics Inc.
APRINOIA Therapeutics is a preclinical and clinical stage neuroscience biopharmaceutical company focuses on neurodegenerative diseases. The Company discovers and develops innovative diagnostic and therapeutic products from preclinical to clinical stages. Since the Company's inception in May 2015, it has advanced its tau PET imaging tracer to human clinical studies in the USA and in Japan. The Company is committed to building a strong pipeline with innovative products, as well as building strong collaboration with global and local pharmaceutical companies to accelerate its product development. The Company currently has operations in Taiwan, China and Japan and its pipeline features three diagnostic and two therapeutic product candidates, focusing on Alzheimer's Disease, non-AD tauopathies, Lewy Body Dementia, and Parkinson's Disease.
For more information, please visit: www.aprinoia.com
About KTB Network
Founded in 1981 as one of the first venture capital firms and the first cross boarder venture capital in Korea, KTB has consistently proven itself as a premier investment company. Throughout KTB's over 30 years of history, more than 260 portfolio companies of KTB went IPO in Korea and overseas. Currently, KTB has offices in Korea, China, and USA.
For more information, please visit: http://www.ktbnetwork.com/
About DCI Partners
DCI Partners is a Japan-based life science venture capital firm of Daiwa Securities Group focusing on investments across Japan and Taiwan.
For more information, please visit: http://www.daiwa-inv.co.jp/dcip/en/index.html
About ShangPharma Group
ShangPharma is comprised of a family of companies including China Gateway Biologics, China Gateway Pharmaceutical Development, ChemPartner, ShangPharma Technology and ShangPharma Investment. The group is actively investing, licensing, and forming partnerships to better serve the healthcare industry. ShangPharma aims, through all its divisions, to create an ecosystem that allows close interaction between major hospitals and academic centers, by matching them with pharmas, biotech, and research institutes to enable the success of all.
For more information, please visit: http://www.shangpharma.com/
For media enquiries, please contact:
Li-Ko Lin, Director of Finance and Business Development
Tel: +886-2-2655-8868
E-mail: likolin@aprinoia.com
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