It’s nice to wrap up the week with some positive news from a local life science/tech company. Especially when it involves closing a financing round in a tough economy. So check this out:
Cognition Therapeutics Inc., a Pittsburgh-based drug discovery company developing small molecule disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer’s, has closed on a $1.21M Series A financing. The round was led by Ogden CAP, LLC of New York City and includes M5Invest Partners of Villanova, PA, the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, Innovation Works (Pittsburgh), and several individual investors. The round included both new investments and the conversion of existing convertible notes.
“This investment facilitates the advancement of our existing lead molecules towards a major milestone,” said Cognition Therapeutics President and CEO Hank Safferstein, Ph.D., J.D. “Our combination of novel, small molecule drug candidates and biologically-relevant screening methods is unique in the pharmaceutical industry. We’re pleased to have Ogden CAP and M5Invest join our other investors in supporting our pioneering approach to treat or prevent Alzheimer’s disease by targeting the proteins that cause the earliest stages of this disease”.
Funds raised in this round will support advancement of Cognition Therapeutics’ pioneering lead molecules that block the activity of the toxic oligomeric form of Abeta protein that interferes with normal learning and memory.
Studies from the world’s leading academic laboratories indicate that the memory deficits caused by the oligomeric protein are among the earliest changes seen in Alzheimer’s disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment, the precursor to Alzheimer’s. These studies indicate that blocking the effects of this protein may halt or reverse Alzheimer’s disease. Cognition will use these funds to test its most promising lead molecules in behavioral models of Alzheimer’s disease.
