Aspen Neuroscience Secures $115 Million Funding for Parkinson’s Stem Cell Therapy

Aspen Neuroscience has closed a $115 million Series C financing round to continue development of its lead stem cell candidate, ANPD001, for moderate-to-advanced Parkinson’s disease.

ANPDD001 is an autologous iPSC-derived dopaminergic neuronal precursor cell (DANPC) therapy, and it’s currently in Phase 1/2a trials. They mention they’ve developed a proprietary delivery system that combines metered-dosing syringe technology with MRI guidance, enabling sub-millimeter accuracy during transplantation. 

With this latest round, including an $8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), Aspen’s total capital raised now exceeds $340 million. They’ll also gain a new board member, Cindy Perettie, Executive VP from one of the funding partners, Kite. 

Plans for Funding:

• Support ongoing Parkinson’s trials
• Expand manufacturing capabilities
• Advance additional autologous iPSC-derived therapies targeting other neurological conditions

Here is the pipeline according to their website:

Aspen also mentioned that it has developed a proprietary manufacturing platform that uses machine learning combined with advanced genomics to produce high-quality personalised cells for each patient, and they’re aiming to improve consistency at a larger scale.

Recent Progress

• Cohort 3 dosing has started in the ASPIRO Phase 1/2a trial, which now uses a commercial-ready formulation of ANPD001. According to preclinical studies, this formulation is comparable to those used in earlier cohorts.
• This new formulation is cryopreserved, ready-to-dose, and will hopefully simplify workflows for hospital labs. 
• Previously reported six-month data from earlier cohorts showed strong safety/tolerability, along with both clinician- and patient-reported improvements, all without immunosuppressive drugs (as opposed to allogeneic cells, which may cause an immune response)

For further details, visit their website: www.aspenneuroscience.com.

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