Dementia Discovery Fund invests in Amphista Therapeutics as it targets neurodegenerative diseases
Cambridge, UK – December 13, 2022 – Amphista Therapeutics, a leader in next generation targeted protein degradation (TPD) approaches, today announced a Series B extension investment by the Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF). The investment is in recognition of the progress made in relation to Amphista’s Eclipsys™ platform and its potential to enable therapies to treat diseases of the central nervous system, with a focus on neurodegeneration.
Amphista’s CEO Dr Nicola Thompson said, “This investment from specialist investor DDF will enable us to accelerate the application of our technology into indications largely inaccessible using traditional TPD approaches. It will enable further pre-clinical development with a focus on diseases of the central nervous system, particularly dementia. This additional investment is excellent news and supports our ambition as a world-leading, next generation protein degradation company delivering ground-breaking new medicines to patients in areas of high unmet need.”
Dr Christian Jung, Partner at DDF, said, “Amphista’s Eclipsys™ platform offers impressive differentiation when compared to first-generation protein degradation platforms and enables Amphista to widen its target and indication scope, including in the CNS. We look forward to working with Amphista to support the Company in realising the full potential of their transformational technology, and in delivering disease-modifying therapies in neurodegeneration and beyond.”
Amphista’s next generation bifunctional molecules use a novel approach that makes use of a wider range of the body’s own innate protein degrading mechanisms, instead of the very narrow set of ubiquitin E3 ligase-based mechanisms used by most other TPD companies. This proprietary approach offers the potential to overcome many of the limitations seen with current TPD approaches, providing the opportunity to treat a wider range of diseases. Amphista is focused on biological targets with a high level of clinical or genetic validation, allowing the team to focus on the translation of their novel TPD approach for clinical benefit in areas of high unmet need.
In association with this financing, Amphista has added Dr Christian Jung to the Board.
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About Amphista Therapeutics
Amphista Therapeutics is focused on transforming the lives of patients with severe diseases including cancer. The company is applying its proprietary Amphista degrader platform to advance new approaches in targeted protein degradation (TPD) that address the challenges faced by earlier stage TPD research and to realise the full therapeutic potential of this transformational approach. Founded by Advent Life Sciences, Amphista is a spin-out of TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee. The company has raised over $60M to date and is funded by leading life science investors including Forbion, Gilde Healthcare, Novartis Venture Fund, Advent Life Sciences, BioMotiv and Eli Lilly & Company.
For more information, please visit: https://amphista.com/
Trademarks: Amphista, the Amphista logo and Eclipsys are all trademarks of Amphista Therapeutics Limited.
About the Dementia Discovery Fund
The Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) is a specialist venture capital fund, managed by SV Health Managers. DDF invests in, and creates, biotech companies pursuing transformational therapeutic approaches for dementias including Alzheimer’s disease. DDF’s investment team is responsible for managing more than $475m, using its significant capital and domain expertise to enable talented entrepreneurs to bring therapeutics addressing one of the world’s largest unmet medical needs to the clinic – ultimately aiming to generate significant returns for its investors. DDF is enabled by its networks and influential group of investors including some leading pharmaceutical companies (Biogen, Eli Lilly and Co., GSK, Johnson & Johnson, Otsuka (Astex), Pfizer and Takeda), along with AARP, Aegon, Bill Gates, British Patient Capital, NFL Players Association, Quest Diagnostics, UnitedHealth Group, the UK Government’s Department of Health and Social Care, and the charity Alzheimer’s Research UK. Learn more at www.ddf.vc.
CONTACTS:
Amphista
Lynn Granito
Berry & Company Public Relations
lgranito@berrypr.com
212 253 8881
Dementia Discovery Fund
Tanya Finn
tfinn@svhealthinvestors.com
