Minoryx bags €21.3m Series B financing

Orphan drug specialist Minoryx Therapeutics has raised €21.3m in a series B financing led by Belgian investors Fund+ and co-investors SFPI-FPIM, S.R.I.W. and Sambrinvest.All Series A investors – Ysios Capital, Kurma Partners, Roche Venture Fund, Idinvest Partners, Chiesi Ventures, Caixa Capital Risc and HealthEquity – also particpated in the round. Few days before the announcement, Minoryx received €0.8m in funding from the Spanish Research Ministry and the EU to find new indications for its lead compound MIN-102.

The company said it will use the proceeds to expand the list of indications for its lead compound, MIN-102, which has successfully past clinical Phase I studies. Currently, the metabolite of pioglitazone, which has shown superior brain penetration and safety profile compared to other glitazones, is under development for the treatment of the neurodegenerative disorder adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN), the most frequent phenotype of X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy (X-ALD) in Europe and the US. Results of a Phase II/III trial,which will enrol 105 adult male patients with AMN in Europe and the US, are expected in 2020. 

Minoryx Therapeutics plans to add other neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative conditions to its MIN-102 programme that are suitable to be treated with the orally bioavailable and selective PPAR gamma agonist, including cerebral ALD (cALD) and other neurodegenerative diseases which were not specified. In X-ALD, mutations in ABCD1, the gene for the peroxisomal  adrenoleukodystrophy membrane protein (ALDP), trigger a chain of events leading to mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, demyelination and axonal degeneration. Through its PPAR gamma activity, MIN-102 prevents such dysfunctions. Other groups have reported that it might lead to ABCD2 gene expression which might compensate the mutation in the ABCD1 gene. Furthermore, PPAR gamma agonists have been attributed to ameliorate neuroinflammation. The phase I safety and dose escalation study, which was completed in Q1/2017, confirmed that MIN-102 is well tolerated, able to cross the blood brain barrier and engage PPAR gamma within the central nervous system to the same level as in preclinical studies. 

In course of the financing, two new members will join the Board of Directors of Minoryx: Philippe Monteyne and Gery Lefebvre, representing Fund+ and S.R.I.W., respectively.

“Minoryx Therapeutics is a very promising company, at the leading edge of innovation in the field of rare diseases of genetic origin with a high unmet medical need”, said Philippe Monteyne. “Its unique approach convinced us of the value of its activities in the development of therapies that have the potential to become a world standard in multiple Central Nervous System indications”.

“We look forward to the next stages of development of Minoryx’s programs, supported here by the financial investment of Belgian players like Fund+, SFPI-FPIM, S.R.I.W. and Sambrinvest”, said Gery Lefebvre. “We are very pleased to reinforce the link between Spain and Belgium, in particular with the Walloon ecosystem of the Charleroi Brussels South Biopark.”