NMD Obtains $47 Million in New Financing for Its ALS Therapy Program

NMD Pharma has obtained $47 million in financing from new investors to continue developing treatments for ALS and other neuromuscular disorders.

The Danish company is focusing on small-molecule inhibitors of a muscle-related chloride ion channel. It has created a screening platform to identify potential inhibitors of the ClC-1 ion channel.

Preclinical-trial studies have shown that inhibiting ClC-1 strengthened the transmission of electrical impulses at junctions between nerves and muscles, leading to muscle-function improvements. The laboratory and animal studies involved ALS and myasthenia gravis.

Two new NMD investors, INKEF Capital and Roche Venture Fund, led the latest financing round. The two initial investors are Novo Seeds and Lundbeckfonden Emerge.

“We believe that with this funding round, NMD is well positioned to demonstrate significant impact on the unmet need of patients suffering from neuromuscular diseases and address other clinical opportunities to regain muscle strength,” said Lucas de Breed, director of INKEF Capital.

“Muscle weakness due to neuromuscular transmission defects is a core symptom severely impacting morbidity and mortality across a wide range of neurological disorders,” Morten Graugaard Dossing, a principal at Novo Seeds, said in a press release. “There is a continued high unmet medical need due to lack of effective treatments, and we are pleased bringing these first-in-class therapies towards patients.”

“We welcome the new investors in the company, and look forward to continue collaborating with the team and helping them grow the company to address important unmet needs of patients with motor neuron [movement nerve cell] disease,” said Christian Elling, a managing partner at Lundbeckfonden Emerge.

“We are extremely pleased with the commitment” of the new investors, and “look forward to accelerate the development of the two programs,” said Thomas Holm Pedersen, NMD’s CEO. “The investment is based on a solid data package obtained during the Seed investment periods. This was obtained through the very hard work by the whole NMD Team. Our company and this new investment is in my view a prime example of how basic research can transform into a well-functioning biotech company.”