Ness Ziona, Israel – November 13, 2019 – ProteKt Therapeutics, a biotech company developing new PKR kinase inhibitor based therapies for neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s Disease, today announced the signing of a binding agreement for a $ US 3.6 million equity financing round. The financing was co-led by Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Bukwang Pharmaceutical, together with existing investors FutuRx, OrbiMed, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Takeda Ventures, Inc. and RM Global Partners (RMGP) BioPharma Investment Fund. Proceeds from the financing will be used primarily to select a lead drug candidate molecule and validate its neurotherapeutic effects in vivo. In addition, the company plans to initiate the clinical development of a related diagnostic assay for patient selection and treatment personalization.
“We are happy to welcome new investors Fonds de solidarité FTQ and Bukwang Pharmaceutical, and greatly appreciate the continued support, guidance and assistance of our existing investors,” said Yotam Nisemblat, CEO of ProteKt Therapeutics. “The new funding will enable us to select and validate novel and selective neuroinflammation inhibitors and continue their development all the way to clinical studies with our next financing round. In addition, adopting a precision medicine approach and developing a patient selection diagnostic assay should increase the likelihood for an effective treatment”.
“We are proud to see our portfolio company ProteKt graduate from the FutuRx incubator with the capability to continue its development of novel therapies for unmet medical needs in neurology such as neurodegenerative diseases with the help of new and existing investors,” said Kinneret Savitzky, Ph.D., CEO of FutuRx.
“The Fonds de solidarité FTQ’s investment in ProteKt is our first in the field of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. We are delighted that ProteKt’s innovative approach will be combined with Québec’s expertise in medicinal chemistry in the fight against this devasting illness,” said Didier Leconte, Vice-President for Investments, Life Sciences and Funds-of-Funds at the Fonds.
“We are impressed with ProteKt’s capability in drug discovery and are delighted to be part of this financing round to move this promising program toward a treatment for neurodegenerative diseases. Bukwang has a strong R&D heritage and this financing round participation further strengthens Bukwang’s portfolio and emphasizes our commitment in the development of novel drugs targets,” said Hee-Won Yoo, Ph.D., CEO of Bukwang Pharmaceutical.
Closing will occur within a week.
About ProteKt Therapeutics
ProteKt Therapeutics is a drug development company aiming to develop potent and selective oral inhibitors of the kinase PKR for the treatment of neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases. The company was founded by Carmel, Haifa University Economic Corporation, and the Carmel Innovations Fund based on the research of Prof. Kobi Rosenblum of the Haifa University. ProteKt Therapeutics joined the FutuRx accelerator in 2015, where it has discovered and developed a series of novel and selective molecules by applying unique computational methods and validating the inhibitors in clinically relevant assays.
About the Fonds de solidarité FTQ
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ is a capital development fund that channels the savings of Quebecers into investments. With $C15.6 billion in net assets as of May 31, 2019, the Fonds has helped create and protect 215,104 jobs. The Fonds has 3,126 partner companies and today has more than 700,000 shareholders-savers. To find out more, visit our website at www.fondsftq.com.
About Bukwang Pharmaceutical
Bukwang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. was established in 1960 and has been producing excellent medications with the aim of improving global health for the last 55 years. Since Bukwang was listed in the Korea Stock Exchange [KRX:003000] in 1988, Bukwang is proud to have kept a healthy financial status and stable track record that earned trust from its employees and shareholders.
Bukwang covers various therapeutic areas including liver, metabolic, respiratory and CNS disease with licensed original products from Europe, the United States and Japan. Bukwang continues to invest significant resources in R&D to create a robust pipeline through consistent focus on new drug development for the treatment of CNS disorders, oncology and immune disease. www.bukwangpharm.com