Every day, Global University Venturing rounds up the smaller investments from across the university innovation ecosystem in its deal net.
Astronautx, a UK-based neurodegenerative disease drug developer founded on University College London (UCL) research, raised £1m ($1.2m) today from university venture fund UCL Technology Fund. The funding will foster Astronautx’s discovery-stage research into compounds that restore astrocytes – specialised cells in the central nervous system implicated in neurodegenerative conditions including Alzheimer’s. Astronautx spun out in March 2019 from UK government-backed investment vehicle Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) in partnership with Drug Discovery Alliance, a $35.3m initiative of research charity Alzheimer’s Research UK. The astrocyte concept was conceived in the Alzheimer’s Research-sponsored lab of Paul Whiting, head of UCL Drug Discovery Institute. Astronautx previously raised $7.8m from DDF in August 2019, according to the Evening Standard.
