Akili Interactive Labs, Inc., a Boston, MA-based digital medicine company, raised an $11.9m in an extension of its recent $30.5m Series B financing.
Merck Ventures BV, a subsidiary of Merck KGaA (known as M Ventures in the United States and Canada), and Amgen Ventures, the venture arm of Amgen, joined existing investors to bring the total Series B proceeds to $42.4m.
The company will use the funds to expand development of its clinical-stage products into new areas, with an expanded focus on neurodegeneration, and to build out its commercial infrastructure as it nears the market with its late-stage products.
Led by Eddie Martucci, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Akili develops novel, non-pharmacological therapeutics and diagnostics for cognitive disorders. It is currently conducting a pivotal trial of its lead product candidate, Project: EVO™, in pediatric Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and plans to seek approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for this treatment if the results of the pivotal study are favorable. The company has multiple clinical studies in cognitive disorders and has recently expanded into disorders across neurodegeneration where cognition is significantly impacted, including Parkinson’s disease, major depressive disorder, and multiple sclerosis, both for the potential to better track the disease course and for the potential of early non-pharmacological treatment.
FinSMEs
20/07/2016