Asceneuron’s $100 mln Series C financing by Novo Holdings: the advisors

BGPartner advised Novo Holdings, EQT, OrbiMed and SR One on $100 million Series C financing of Swiss biotech company Asceneuron, represented by Lenz & Staehelin, Geneva. The financing round was led by Novo Holdings with new investment from EQT Life Sciences – LSP Dementia Fund, OrbiMed and SR One Capital Management, alongside participation from existing investors Merck Serono, Sofinnova Partners, GSK Equities Investments and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC.

The financing will serve to advance Asceneuron’s lead asset ASN51 into Phase 2 clinical development for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. ASN51 is an oral small molecule drug designed to inhibit OGA, an enzyme implicated in protein aggregation. By preventing the aggregation of tau proteins, ASN51 aims to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. OGA inhibition has also shown promising potential to prevent the aggregation of proteins that are central to other neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

BGPartner’s team

BGPartner advised lead investor Novo Holdings as well as the investors EQT Life Sciences – LSP Dementia Fund, OrbiMed and SR One, on all Swiss legal matters and the negotiations of this Series C financing round. The team consisted of partner Oliver Gnehm (pictured), senior associate Victoria Marty and associate Tessa Douma.

Lenz & Staehelin’s team

Lenz & Staehelin advised Asceneuron in its Series C financing. Corporate and M&A Federico Trabaldo Togna (pictured below left) and tax Floran Ponce (pictured below right) led the team, which included David di Rosa, Noé Luisoni and Victor Sellier (all corporate and M&A), Kimberly Hundt (tax), as well as Sevan Antreasyan (IP, regulatory)