Novo Holdings has joined the early-stage consortium of Praxis Precision, a gene therapy business co-founded by faculty from Columbia and Melbourne universities.
Praxis Precision, a US-based gene therapy developer targeting neurological and psychiatric disorders, emerged from stealth on Monday with more than $100m raised to date from investors co-led by pharmaceutical firm Novo Holdings.
The consortium is also co-led by Praxis’s founding investor Blackstone Life Sciences, which participated through its Clarus subsidiary, as well as venture capital firms including Eventide and Vida Ventures.
Founded in 2016, Praxis Precision is developing precision drugs that interact with underlying genetic mechanisms linked to several brain disorders, including psychiatric and central nervous system (CNS) illnesses.
The company’s lead program, PRAX-114, targets the GABAA positive allosteric receptor to treat major depressive disorder, and is currently undergoing phase 2 clinical development.
Praxis’s pipeline also includes another phase 2 asset, PRAX-944, for essential tremor, a CNS disorder that causes involuntary shaking in any part of the body.
The company aims to have proof-of-concept data…
