Mitoconix is exploiting research into neurodegenerative disorders undertaken by professor Daria Mochly-Rosen and her team at Stanford University.
Mitoconix Bio, an Israel-based biopharmaceutical startup that has licensed research from Stanford University, has raised $20m in an oversubscribed series A round led by Remiges Ventures.
Arix Bioscience, OrbiMed, the Dementia Discovery Fund and RMGP Bio-Pharma Investment Fund, which invests in portfolio companies of the FuturRx incubator, also contributed capital.
Mitoconix, founded in 2016 by FutuRx, has obtained an exclusive licence to research conducted by professor Daria Mochly-Rosen and her team at Stanford University. The company is working on compounds that could treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.
The money will go towards the advancement of the company’s lead candidate, MTC-1203, through pre-clinical and clinical development. The company will also expand its pipeline.
Jonathan Tobin, of Arix Bioscience, will join Mitoconix Bio’s board as an observer.
Joe Anderson, chief executive of Arix, said: “We are pleased to have participated in Mitoconix Bio’s series A and to be joining the company alongside an impressive list of investors.
“Neurodegenerative diseases present a huge unmet clinical need to which Mitoconix Bio, founded on the ground-breaking intellectual property by serial entrepreneur professor Mochly-Rosen and her team at Stanford University, is well-placed to develop an answer.
“Mitoconix is an exciting company whose work complements Arix’s focus on dynamic healthcare and life science innovation.”
FutuRx was established in 2014 by pharmaceutical firms Johnson & Johnson and Takeda, which took part through subsidiaries Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation and Takeda Ventures, and investment firm OrbiMed’s OrbiMed Israel Partners unit as well as the Chief Scientist’s Office of the Israeli government.
