Company’s Parkinson’s therapy is designed to restore dopamine function by rebuilding neural networks using a patient’s own stem cells.
US biotech Aspen Neuroscience has closed a $115 million Series C financing round to advance development of its personalized cell therapy programs, with an initial focus on Parkinson’s disease. The investment brings the company’s total capital raised to more than $340 million and will primarily be used to expand clinical studies and scale manufacturing.
San Diego–based Aspen is developing an autologous regenerative medicine platform built on induced pluripotent stem cells. The company is developing Parkinson’s therapies aimed at restoring dopamine function by rebuilding neural networks with a patient’s own cells.
Aspen’s process begins with a small skin biopsy from a patient that is reprogrammed into iPSCs and then differentiated into dopaminergic neuronal precursor cells. The cells are evaluated using machine-learning–enabled genomic quality control at multiple stages before being delivered back to the patient. Because the therapy uses each patient’s own cells, the company is aiming to eliminate the need for immunosuppression and other limitations seen with donor-derived cell therapies.
Aspen claims its lead program, ANPD001, is the most advanced autologous investigational cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease in US clinical development. Having received FDA Fast Track designation, the therapy is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2a trial, and the company recently began dosing patients in the trial’s third cohort using its proposed commercial formulation following the completion of earlier dosing cohorts.
Six-month data from the trial’s first cohort, presented earlier this year, showed that the therapy was generally well tolerated in the first five patients treated. In addition to positive safety data, early observations also included improvements in both clinician-assessed and patient-reported measures of efficacy, all achieved without immunosuppression.
The round was co-led by OrbiMed, ARCH Venture Partners, Frazier Life Sciences and Revelation Partners, with participation from existing and new investors, including Gilead-owned Kite Pharma. Kite EVP Cindy Perettie joins Aspen’s board.
“This financing marks a pivotal moment for Aspen as we accelerate our mission to deliver personalized regenerative therapies for people with Parkinson’s disease and beyond,” said Aspen CEO Dr Damien McDevitt. “The significant experience and deep capital resources our investor syndicate brings will be instrumental in advancing Aspen’s next phases of clinical development and commercial readiness.”
Proceeds from the Series C financing will support the ongoing clinical trial, along with expansion of the company’s iPSC manufacturing capacity and progression of additional preclinical programs targeting neurological conditions.
