Vandria Announces $20.6M (CHF18M) Series A Financing Led by ND Capital to Drive CNS Clinical Program and Mitochondrial Therapeutics Platform

• Vandria emerges from stealth announcing its $20.6M (CHF18M) Series A financing led by ND Capital
• Lead candidate VNA-318 is a clinic-ready, brain- penetrant, mitophagy inducer shown to improve memory and learning
• Potential for a range of CNS indications including cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease
• Wider portfolio of mitophagy inducers addresses other age-related and chronic diseases of muscle, lung and liver
• Management team includes CEO Klaus Dugi, CSO Penelope Andreux and Head of BD & Finance Peter Harboe-Schmidt.  Patrick Aebischer chairs the board.

Lausanne, Switzerland – 14 December 2023 – Vandria SA, a company at the vanguard of mitochondrial therapeutics developing first-in-class small molecule mitophagy inducers, today emerged from stealth with the announcement of its successful Series A fundraise. The $20.6M (CHF 18M) round was led by ND Capital together with a small syndicate of HNW private investors.

Vandria was spun out of Amazentis SA in 2021 with backing by ND Capital to develop first-in-class small molecule mitophagy inducers against a novel target to rejuvenate cells and treat age-related and chronic diseases. Capitalizing on 15 years of discovery science, Vandria has rapidly developed its platform and portfolio, and its lead program, VNA-318, a patent-protected, brain-penetrant, first-in-class mitophagy inducer, is on track to enter clinical trials in Europe in Q2 2024.

The company’s impressive management team includes senior pharma executive Klaus Dugi, MD as CEO, mitochondrial expert Penelope Andreux, PhD as CSO, and life sciences entrepreneur Peter Harboe-Schmidt, MSc, MBA, as Head of BD & Finance.

Penelope Andreux, CSO of Vandria, said: “The potential of mitophagy as a new therapeutic approach for tackling CNS disorders is increasingly recognised by the pharmaceutical industry. Our lead candidate, VNA-318, has neuroprotective and anti-neuroinflammatory effects and has been demonstrated to improve cognition in disease-relevant models. We believe it has the potential to impact a range of CNS indications and we look forward to starting clinical development in 2024.”

Klaus Dugi, CEO of Vandria, said: “ND Capital has been a highly supportive investor through our startup phase and our Series A financing. 2024 will be a transformative year for Vandria as it becomes a clinical stage company with a novel small molecule designed to address cognitive impairment and neurodegeneration - areas of critical patient need in an aging world population. The company has made rapid progress in the past two years and has an exciting future. We look forward to welcoming additional investors to support the further clinical development of VNA-318 and deliver on the wider potential of Vandria’s mitophagy platform to treat age-related and chronic diseases.”

Dani Bach, Partner, ND Capital, and director of Vandria said: “Targeting mitochondria is emerging as a very hot area in drug development as evidenced by several recent M&A deals and VC financings. With Vandria’s potential first-in-class drugs for a target that has been validated in humans, we think we are ahead of the pack. We have worked closely with the company to assemble a world-class leadership team and attract high-calibre advisors and additional investors. It exemplifies the strength of our company-building model.”. 

About mitophagy and VNA-318

Vandria discovers and develops inhibitors of a novel target which results in the induction of mitophagy - the selective removal and replacement of damaged mitochondria - and anti-inflammatory effects. The target has strong genetic links to several human diseases.

In pre-clinical studies, Vandria’s lead candidate, VNA-318, has been consistently shown to acutely improve memory and learning, and to have strong disease-modifying effects in models of neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. Toxicity studies have demonstrated VNA-318 to have a wide safety window.

VNA-318 targets patients with early-stage CNS and neurodegenerative disorders to treat cognitive impairment and limit memory loss progression. The global market for Alzheimer’s disease alone is estimated at $7.6 billion and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% to 2035, driven by an aging population, improved diagnosis, and a growing awareness and understanding of the condition and its implications.

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.

Board, management, and advisors

Patrick Aebischer, MD, Chairman of The Board of Directors, is co-founder of Vandria and Amazentis, senior partner at ND Capital, Chairman of Novartis Venture Fund and board member of Nestlé, Logitech, and PolyPeptide Group.

CEO Klaus Dugi, MD, joined Vandria in 2021 having spent 18 years in the pharma industry. He brings two decades experience in the pharma industry including more than eight years as Chief Medical Officer at Boehringer Ingelheim and Ferring where he has overseen the development, approval and launch of four $1bn+ blockbuster drugs. He is a venture partner with ND Capital, serves on several boards and is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Heidelberg University.

CSO Penelope Andreux, PhD has more than 15 years expertise in mitochondrial research, with an impressive publication record in world-leading scientific publications and is an inventor on six patent families.

Head of BD & Finance Peter Harboe-Schmidt, MBA brings 25 years’ experience in life sciences as an executive and entrepreneur, having held senior roles at Amgen and DuPont and founded five live sciences companies.  

Vandria has attracted an elite group of advisors with leading experts across mitochondrial biology, CNS and cognition and muscle diseases from world-renowned institutions including EPFL, Harvard Medical School, Duke Medical School, University of Texas, University of Kansas, L’Hôpital Universitaire Pitié Salpêtrière and University College London.