MedaRed, Inc., a San Francisco, CA-based biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing new therapeutics targeting fibrin, completed a $6.5m seed financing.
The round was led by the Dementia Discovery Fund and Dolby Family Ventures.
MedaRed was founded upon the work of Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, PhD, Senior Investigator at Gladstone Institutes and Professor of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, who, along with her colleagues, discovered molecules that reduce neuroinflammation and the subsequent damage to neurons.
The company intends to use the funds to develop these molecules into therapeutics that target fibrin for people with diseases that have significant unmet clinical need. The initial focus will be on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and multiple sclerosis (MS).
MedaRed is also led by acting CEO Daniel Burgess, SV Health Investors (SV) Venture Partner, and Chief Scientific Officer Jeffrey Stavenhagen, PhD., who brings 20 years of scientific leadership experience in both the U.S. and Europe using emerging technology platforms for the development of novel biologics. He comes to MedaRed from Therachon, where he was Vice President of Biology and was responsible for preclinical research and CMC until the company’s recent acquisition by Pfizer, Inc. in a transaction valued at more than $800 million. Prior to Therachon, Dr. Stavenhagen served as a Senior Director at Lundbeck (Denmark) and led their global biologics program to treat CNS diseases. Previously he served as Director, Molecular Immunology at Amplimmune and held roles of increasing responsibility at MacroGenics.
Dr. Stavenhagen started his career as an assistant professor at the University of Dayton in the Department of Biology. He received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from Columbia University and conducted Post-Doctoral research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
Joining the board are Mike Ross PhD and Laurence Barker PhD of SV representing DDF, Pascal Levensohn representing Dolby Family Ventures, Dr. Akassoglou and Mr. Burgess.
FinSMEs
08/07/2019