Augustine Raises $17 Million in a Round Co-Sponsored by Eli Lilly and Led by Asabys

Augustine Therapeutics meets expectations. The biotechnology company specialized in the development of new molecules for the treatment of neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases, announced that it has raised 17 million euros in the first closing of a Series A financing round led by Asabys Partners from its Sabadell Asabys II fund.

The financing round closed by Augustine Therapeutics also included the participation of the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and the Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) Research Foundation, based in the United States, as well as the participation of existing investors in the company, AdBio Partners, V-Bio Ventures, PMV, VIB New Ventures and Gemma Frisius Fund, the venture capital arm of KU Leuven.

Capital from this first Series A close will be used to advance Augustine’s first molecule, AGT100216, to the first Phase 1 clinical trial in 2025. In parallel, the preclinical development of other inhibitory molecules of the enzyme Histone Deacetylase 6 (Hdac6) with peripheral action and central action will continue.

Augustine Therapeutics incorporates Clara Campàs, founder and managing partner of Asabys Partners, to its board of directors

Based in Leuven, Augustine Therapeutics develops Hdac6 inhibitor drugs to reverse and inhibit the pathophysiological changes of peripheral axonopathies, a group of neurodegenerative diseases of the peripheral nervous system with no available therapeutic options, such as CMT and peripheral neuropathy secondary to chemotherapy, and of diseases neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Furthermore, the recent discovery of the role of Hdac6 in several cardiovascular and metabolic diseases offers additional positioning for the company, which already has a preclinical program in this field.

Clara Campàs, founder and managing partner of Asabys Partners, joins the board of directors of Augustine Therapeutics , and Isabel Jiménez, associate at Asabys, joins as an observer on the same body. In addition, the company also announced the appointment of Gerhard Koenig as executive chairman of the board. Koenig is CEO and founder of Arkuda Therapeutics, a Boston-based biotechnology company focused on the development of enhancers of lysosomal function in neurodegenerative diseases.

Asabys Partners is a venture capital firm specialized in the healthcare sector, founded in 2018 by Josep Lluis Sanfeliu and Clara Campàs, owned by Alantra and supported by Banc Sabadell as anchor investor. With nearly €217 million in assets under management and fifteen companies in its portfolio, Asabys invests in highly innovative and disruptive companies that cover unmet medical needs in the biopharmaceutical and health technology sectors.

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(Featured image by Marek Studzinski via Unsplash)

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