Vandria closes Series A round at CHF28.3m

Hevolution Foundation and Dolby Family Ventures led Vandria’s 2nd Series A closing, bringing the capital to CHF 28.3. With the money, the 2021 EFPL spin-out aims to advance its first in class mitophagy inducer VNA-318 that targets several neurodegenerative indications into clinical development. Jens Eckstein, Investment Partner at Hevolution Foundation, will join Vandria’s board of directors.

According to CEO Klaus Dugi, Vandria plans to start with a dose-finding study this year an subsequently wants to widen enrolment to  three parallel Phase Ib/2a studies in 2025 that might give some hints of the efficacy of VNA-318, possibly in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease and age-related age-related, chronic diseases of muscle, lung and liver.

Since the first Series A close in December, Vandria has made rapid progress. It has advanced its platform and portfolio. Furthermore, its lead programme VNA-318 is on track to enter clinical trials in Europe in the coming weeks. The company has also expanded its team and moved to dedicated lab facilities at Superlab Suisse on the Biopôle Lausanne campus.

In addition to the equity financing, Vandria has secured  two Innosuisse grants worth CHF4.2m to support VNA-318 and an Eurostars grant to support the generation of pre-clinical data for mitophagy drug candidates in Vandria’s muscle programme.

In pre-clinical studies, VNA-318 has acutely improved memory and learning Additionally, VNA-318 showed strong disease-modifying effects in models of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. Toxicity studies have demonstrated preclinical safety of VNA-318. In addition to VNA-318, Vandria has a pipeline of other mitophagy-inducing small molecules to address unmet medical need in muscle, lung, and liver diseases.

A composition of matter patent covering VNA-318 and other compounds has been issued by the US Patent Office.