Engrail Therapeutics closed its $64 million Series A after a $32 million extension of the funding round, the company announced on Aug. 3. Both the initial Series A and extension round were led by Nan Fung Life Sciences (NFLS), the global investment platform of the Nan Fung Group.
Founded in 2019, Engrail is a neuroscience company focused on the acquisition, development and commercialization of patient-centric therapies. The company will use the proceeds of the Series A to finance its pipeline including, ENX-101, ENX-102 and internal preclinical programs.
Engrail’s portfolio of assets are aimed at treating life-limiting diseases of the nervous system. Vikram Sudarsan, Ph.D., CEO and president of Engrail Therapeutics said that earlier this year, the biotech initiated a Phase 1b study for ENX-101 and Phase 1a study for ENX-102.
“This funding will help advance these assets, as well as our earlier-stage pipeline, as rapidly as possible while continuing to build out our clinical development capabilities,” Sudarsan said. “Additionally, NFLS has made a long-term commitment to invest $2 billion in the life sciences sector, enabling us to continue leveraging our flexible transaction model to acquire assets with validated mechanisms to treat diseases of the nervous system through licensing, co-development and company acquisitions. We continue to pursue transactions that will grow our pipeline and cater to major unmet needs in the neurosciences.”
In addition to the advancement of its pipeline, Engrail has grown this year through the acquisition of Neurocycle Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on sub-type selective GABA-A modulation.
“Engrail has demonstrated impressive progress in the past year since its founding with the initiation of two Phase 1 studies for its lead candidates,” said Peter Bisgaard, managing director of NFLS and chairman of Engrail’s board of directors. “We are excited to support this team as it continues acquiring high-quality assets and advances them through clinical development.”