By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    benefits of using protein powder to build muscles
    Protein Powder for Muscle Mass: Everything You Need to Know
    December 12, 2021
    changes brought on by blockchain in healthcare
    Technology In The Healthcare Industry
    March 28, 2022
    What Does Core Body Temperature Say About Health?
    August 17, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    FDA Approves Diabetes Pill
    May 2, 2011
    Patient Gets Drunk on Hand Sanitizer
    June 20, 2011
    Cultivating Health Improvement
    July 20, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Neuro Drug Developer iPierian Nets $30M
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Finance > Neuro Drug Developer iPierian Nets $30M
BusinessFinanceMedical InnovationsSpecialties

Neuro Drug Developer iPierian Nets $30M

Deanna Pogorelc
Last updated: September 5, 2013 8:00 am
Deanna Pogorelc
Share
4 Min Read
SHARE

iPierian drug developerOriginally published on MedCityNews.com. 

iPierian drug developerOriginally published on MedCityNews.com. 

Rather than leveraging stem cells for therapeutic use, iPierian Inc. has been using them to create disease models with which it can screen and develop new drugs. Now, with $30 million it’s just collected from investors, iPierian Inc. plans to split two distinct R&D programs that have emerged from those techniques into different companies.

Some of the investment money will continue to fund iPierian’s drug development efforts in neurodegenerative disease. The other portion of it goes toward a Series A for a new spinout called True North Therapeutics. The company declined to specify how the funding was divided.

More Read

Protecting Seniors During Flu Season
Getting Charged for Rework in a Hospital
5 Popular Non-Invasive And Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures
Collaborative Metrics in Healthcare
7 Things You Can Tell About Your Patient’s Health Through Their Mouth

“Given recent positive developments with promising drug candidates, we believe that creating two companies, iPierian and True North, opens up a wider range of possibilities for partnering discussions, allows each company to explore new indications and pipeline opportunities, and optimizes the value to shareholders and patients with the assets built through the scientific legacy of iPierian,” said Jim Scopa, managing director at MPM Capital, in a statement.

MPM Capital co-led the round along with GlaxoSmithKline’s venture capital arm, SR One, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. Existing investors like Biogen Idec and Google Ventures also participated, iPierian said.

Since its inception in 2008, the South San Francisco company has been working with a drug discovery platform based on a novel cell regeneration technique. Developed by Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University, the techniques allow scientists to convert adult stem cells back into ones that behave like embryotic cells in their ability to be coaxed into a variety of different cell types.

That platform has been used to grow diseases in a dish,” as CEO Nancy Stagliano described in an interview last year, to allow researchers to develop a better understanding of how certain drugs would behave in humans. One of the R&D programs it has yielded targets the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by tangles of Tau protein, including Alzheimer’s disease. The other targets the classical complement pathway to treat autoantibody-driven rare diseases.

True North Therapeutics was spun off to continue development of the latter program and its lead candidate, TNT009, a monoclonal antibody the company says selectively inhibits a target of the classical complement pathway. The complement system is a part of the immune system that helps the body clear pathogens from an organism. True North says it’s developing drugs for rare diseases in the hematological, renal and neurological therapeutic areas, but a company representative declined to be more specific. With the Series A funding, the company hopes to file an IND within the next 12 to 18 months.

Meanwhile, iPierian will continue working on IPN007, its lead drug candidate for the treatment of tauopathies, with plans to file an IND application in 2014. Following the failure of a group of drugs that went after a different protein, beta amyloid, in clinical trials, the next wave of clinical trials for Alzheimer’s seems to include more products focused on the tau hypothesis. TauRx Pharmaceuticals, for example, is running two late-stage clinical trials for a drug designed to dissolve tangles of tau in the brain. Eli Lilly also recently acquired rights to develop a diagnostic agent to detect tau.

Stagliano, former CEO of CytomX Therapeutics, will continue to head iPierian and will also serve as CEO of True North Therapeutics.

TAGGED:health start-ups!rare diseasestem cells
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Dental health
May 21, 2025
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
Dental health
May 21, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025

You Might also Like

siemens centralink
Medical DevicesMedical Innovations

Siemens Centralink: The Data Management Connection

August 3, 2013
Pass-Fail
BusinessHospital Administration

Whatcha Gonna Do When Hospital Advertising Goes Sour?

April 9, 2014

Telehealth Today, Not Tomorrow

December 4, 2011

Fast-Forward Scanning

August 11, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?