Exciva Secures €51M Series B to Advance Alzheimer's Agitation Treatment into Phase II
核心洞察
Heidelberg-based Exciva completed a €51 million Series B funding round co-led by Gimv (搜索) and EQT Life Sciences (搜索) to advance its lead compound Deraphan (搜索) into Phase II trials for Alzheimer's agitation (搜索).
Deraphan (搜索) combines two clinically validated components, including one new chemical entity, targeting agitation (搜索) that affects up to 60% of Alzheimer's patients and often forces families to abandon home care.
The international Phase II study will be conducted across Europe, the UK, US, and Canada, following successful Phase I results demonstrating safety and tolerability.
Heidelberg-based biopharmaceutical company Exciva GmbH (搜索) has closed a €51 million ($59 million) Series B financing round to advance its lead compound Deraphan (搜索) into Phase II clinical trials for treating agitation (搜索) in Alzheimer's disease (搜索) patients. The round was co-led by European investment firm Gimv (搜索) and EQT Life Sciences (搜索), with participation from new investors Fountain Healthcare Partners (搜索), LifeArc Ventures (搜索), Carma Fund, and Modi VC, alongside existing investor Andera Partners (搜索).
The funding represents a significant milestone for addressing neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (搜索), which have historically received less attention than cognitive decline despite their profound impact on patients and caregivers.
Targeting a Critical Unmet Need
Agitation (搜索) affects an estimated 40-70% of Alzheimer's patients during the course of their illness, manifesting as motor restlessness, aggressiveness, irritability, and emotional disinhibition. For families, agitation often becomes the decisive factor forcing the transition from home care to institutional settings, representing a major loss of quality of life and dignity for patients.
"Agitation (搜索) is highly prevalent in and persistently associated with patients with AD," according to epidemiological studies cited by the company. Current therapeutic options remain inadequate, with practitioners often resorting to antipsychotics (搜索) or sedating drugs that offer limited efficacy while carrying significant side effects, including boxed warnings and increased mortality risk.
Novel Combination Approach
Deraphan (搜索) represents a differentiated therapeutic approach, combining two clinically validated components, including one new chemical entity (NCE), designed to target central neuronal signaling pathways (搜索). The combination has demonstrated activity in the CNS field and completed a successful Phase I study showing safety and tolerability.
"Deraphan (搜索) is the combination of two clinically validated products, including one novel chemical entity (NCE), which have demonstrated activity in the CNS field, with the potential to offer better efficacy and risk/benefit ratio than existing therapies," the company stated.
The upcoming Phase II trial will be conducted as an international, multi-center study across Europe, the UK, the United States, and Canada, evaluating Deraphan (搜索)'s therapeutic potential for treating agitation (搜索) in Alzheimer's patients.
Strategic Shift in Alzheimer's Research
The investment reflects a broader strategic shift in Alzheimer's drug development, moving beyond exclusive focus on disease-modifying therapies to address symptomatic treatments that can provide immediate quality-of-life improvements. This approach offers several advantages for pharmaceutical companies, including shorter development timelines, more easily measurable endpoints, and direct benefits for patients and caregivers.
"Exciva's therapy for agitation (搜索) in Alzheimer's disease (搜索) is highly differentiated, addressing significant shortcomings in the current standard of care and other products under development," said Andreas Jurgeit, PhD, Partner Life Sciences at Gimv (搜索). "We are pleased to collaborate with the Exciva team — backed by decades of expertise in neuropsychiatry drug development, including approved therapies — to transform care for this challenging aspect of dementia (搜索)."
Market Opportunity and Impact
The global dementia (搜索) population is projected to grow from approximately 50 million today to over 150 million by 2050, driven by aging societies worldwide. Neuropsychiatric symptoms represent a major cost driver in Alzheimer's care, making effective treatments economically relevant for healthcare systems.
Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD, Partner at EQT Life Sciences (搜索), emphasized the therapeutic potential: "This investment illustrates the potential of Exciva to bring an exciting innovation into a therapeutic area where Alzheimer's patients have limited or no treatment options."
Company Background and Leadership
Founded in 2016 by Drs. Anton Bespalov, Hans Moebius, and Rao Vepachedu, Exciva initially encountered limited investor interest in Alzheimer's accompanying symptoms. The company's breakthrough came through French investor group Andera Partners (搜索), which led the initial €9 million Series A round in 2021.
"We were founding investors in Exciva and supported the seed financing as well as, to a significant extent, the Series A round in 2021," said Raphaël Wisniewski, Partner at Andera Partners (搜索). "We already knew parts of the founding team from previous projects and were immediately convinced by the company's approach to addressing the previously unmet medical need in the treatment of behavioural symptoms such as agitation (搜索) in Alzheimer's patients."
Following the Series B round, the board of directors includes Raphaël Wisniewski (Andera Partners (搜索)), Philip Scheltens (EQT Life Sciences (搜索)), Andreas Jurgeit (Gimv (搜索)), Aidan King (Fountain Healthcare), Vikram Sudarsan (independent Board member), and François Conquet as CEO.
CEO François Conquet expressed optimism about the funding milestone: "We are delighted that we could attract funding from both existing and new investors. This confirms that our product is highly promising. If the results of the phase 2 trial are positive, it will be a significant step forward in symptomatic treatment options for patients with Alzheimer's disease (搜索)."