Hoping its leading Alzheimer’s drug candidate will soon be fast-tracked in Europe, Charlottetown drug discovery company Neurodyn Life Sciences Inc. has completed a $1 million funding round.
The company said in a statement Tuesday it will use the funds to support development and commercial initiatives across its product line.
Neurodyn specializes in treating diseases of the brain and has been focusing recently on the commercialization of Memogain, a prescription drug candidate it bought from a German company in 2013. The drug has been shown to increase cognitive processes, both among the elderly and even in young, healthy people. And given the acute need around the world for drugs that can battle dementia, there is reason to believe the drug could soon enter an accelerated regulatory process.
“Recent regulatory meetings in the EU suggest that Memogain could be the next Alzheimer’s drug approved in Europe,” said Neurodyn CEO Ken Cawkell in the statement. “EU regulators have commented that Memogain could qualify for their Innovative Medicines Initiative, designed to expedite new drugs to market.”
Memogain is Neurodyn’s patent-protected improvement of the natural cognitive enhancer galantamine, which is currently on the market and being used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.
Neurodyn’s Phase 1A clinical trial results demonstrated that Memogain promotes higher preference for the brain than galantamine. That means there are fewer adverse side effects and higher cognitive enhancement than are found marketed Alzheimer’s drugs now on the market.
The company said the latest round of funding has come from existing shareholders and a range of investors in both Canada and the U.S., including certain American family-managed venture funds. Neurodyn’s last major fund-raising was a $1.5 million round in February 2013 led by the Regis Duffy BioScience Fund Inc. of Charlottetown and Mertz Holdings, a family-owned investment fund based in Houston, Texas.
The company also said the new money will help with the development of a new “cognitive enhancing emulsion” called Cerbella. The company describes the drug as a “highly bioavailable formulation of ginsensosides and green tea catechins, which are complexed and delivered in a flavored Omega-3 emulsion.”
The company, which has offices in Charlottetown, Halifax and Germany, plans to launch Cerbella in Canada and the U.S. this year and said its formulation and state-of-the-art packaging will revolutionize the way consumers think about brain health.
“Investors are excited about the near-term potential of our product pipeline,” said Cawkell. “Like us, they recognize the devastating socio-economic impact of an aging population that is becoming increasingly more susceptible to neurological disease.”
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