• Parters include:Eli Lilly, Pfizer Ventures, JNJ Ventures, and AbbVie Ventures
• Company will focus on slowing or stopping neuronal loss in certain disease states

Accelerator Life Science Partners (Accelerator), a life science investment and management firm, announced on 8/13/18 that it has launched Magnolia Neurosciences Corporation, a company developing a new class of neuroprotective medicines. Co-founded by Accelerator and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson), the company will further develop discoveries made by scientists in MD Anderson’s Therapeutics Discovery division and the Neurodegeneration Consortium (NDC).

Investors participating in the $31 Million Series A financing include AbbVie Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, ARCH Venture Partners, Eli Lilly and Company, Innovate NY Fund, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., the Partnership Fund for New York City, Pfizer Ventures, Watson Fund, L.P., WuXi AppTec’s Corporate Venture Fund and 180 Degree Capital Corp.

“There is a critical need to develop medicines that slow or stop neuronal loss in these patients, and a growing body of data suggests that inhibition of these specific pathways has the potential to preserve neuron viability across a variety of disease states and pathological conditions,” said Jim Ray, PhD, director of Neurodegeneration Consortium. “Magnolia Neurosciences is focused on developing potent and highly selective neuroprotective therapies that have compelling preclinical pharmacologic profiles and for which clinical proof of concept can be obtained rapidly in order to address significant unmet patient needs.”

Neurodegenerative diseases and neuronal injury affect nearly 20 million individuals in the United States alone, and their incidence is expected to increase as the population ages. During embryonic development, excess neurons are eliminated by a process called programmed cell death. Research indicates that this tightly controlled process becomes re-activated in critical brain regions in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions. Blocking specific components of this process preserves brain tissue and leads to enhanced memory in animal models, suggesting that drugs targeting these key steps could maintain neural function.

“This investment in Magnolia Neurosciences exemplifies Pfizer’s commitment to funding neuroscience innovation and supporting cutting-edge translational neuroscience research,” said Laszlo Kiss, executive director, Worldwide Research & Development and principal at Pfizer Ventures. “Our new focus on neuroscience investing is designed to support entrepreneurs who are deciphering the molecular basis of neurologic disorders, and we believe that Magnolia Neurosciences has the technology and scientific foundation on which to build an exciting portfolio of neuroprotective medicines.”