NovaGo Therapeutics AG has closed a CHF 24 million, approximately $30 million, Series B financing round led by Neurimmune and Pureos Bioventures. Existing and new investors also participated, while the equity financing was complemented by non-dilutive funding from the Swiss Paraplegic Foundation and Wings for Life – Spinal Cord Research Foundation.
The Schlieren, Switzerland-based biotechnology company will use the financing to advance NG004, its anti-Nogo-A antibody for acute spinal cord injury. NovaGo has initiated SPROUT II, a randomized, double-blind proof-of-concept study expected to enroll 120 patients across clinical sites in Germany, Spain and Switzerland.
Founded in 2015 as a spin-off from Professor Martin Schwab’s laboratories at the University of Zurich, NovaGo develops anti-Nogo-A biologics aimed at promoting nerve regeneration and functional recovery in diseases and injuries of the central nervous system. Its pipeline is being developed for indications including spinal cord injury, stroke and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.
NG004 is a fully human antibody designed to neutralize Nogo-A, a protein that inhibits nerve-fiber regeneration and neuroplasticity in the central nervous system. NovaGo recently completed an open-label Phase 1 study of NG004 in patients with acute spinal cord injury before progressing the program into the proof-of-concept study.
