MindImmune targets clinical trials of drug that blocks the harmful recruitment of peripheral immune cells into the brain.
US biotech MindImmune Therapeutics has secured a $10.2 million extension to its Series A financing, bringing the total round to $30 million as targets first-in-human trials of its immune-system focused approach to neurodegeneration. The proceeds will be used primarily to move the Cambridge, MA-based company’s lead drug candidate into Phase 1 clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease.
For years, drug developers have focused on the role of amyloid and tau proteins in neurodegenerative disease, but MindImmune is looking elsewhere for answers. The company was founded on the premise that neurodegenerative diseases cannot be fully understood or effectively treated without directly addressing immune system involvement.
MindImmune has developed its approach around the idea that immune system activity outside the brain plays a central role in driving neurodegenerative damage, building on research indicating that a subset of innate immune cells originating in the bloodstream can migrate into the brain in Alzheimer’s disease. Once there, the company claims these cells appear to contribute to neuroinflammation and the destruction of synapses, potentially driving both the day-to-day cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s and also its long-term progression. By intervening in this peripheral immune process before immune cells enter the central nervous system, MindImmune aims to blunt downstream inflammation and neural damage at an earlier point in the disease cascade.
The company’s lead program, MITI-101, is a monoclonal antibody engineered to neutralize CD11c, a marker and functional component of a population of innate immune cells implicated in disease-related inflammation. By blocking CD11c in the bloodstream, the therapy is designed to prevent these cells from being recruited into the brain, where they otherwise accumulate around amyloid plaques and drive inflammatory processes that lead to synaptic deterioration. MindImmune claims its preclinical studies in mouse models have shown that eliminating or blocking the migration of these CD11c-positive cells reduces markers of synaptic dystrophy.
As it readies for clinical trials, the company also announced the appointment of Isaac Stoner as CEO. Formerly entrepreneur-in-residence at Slater Technology Fund and a limited partner at KdT Ventures, Stoner takes over from scientific founder Stevin Zorn, who assumes the role of CSO.
“Dr Zorn and his co-founders have made a fundamental discovery that will change how we think about neurodegenerative diseases,” said Stoner. “MindImmune’s therapeutic programs have the potential to dramatically benefit Alzheimer’s patients by targeting the underlying inflammatory processes that damage synapses and blood vessels in the brain.”
The latest funding round was led by Dolby Family Ventures, with participation from Pfizer Ventures, Gates Frontier, Slater Technology Fund, RightHill Ventures and Foundation for a Better World, among others.
Looking ahead, MindImmune’s research program is broadly focused on understanding how specific immune pathways intersect with nervous system pathology and how selectively interrupting those pathways could restore or preserve neural connections. While its initial focus is on Alzheimer’s, the same mechanism is thought to be relevant across a wider range of neurodegenerative disorders and possibly other chronic inflammatory conditions, using the immune system itself as the primary lever for restoring and preserving neural function.
