TIDMPRTC
RNS Number : 2735X
PureTech Health PLC
09 August 2018
9 August 2018
PureTech Health plc
PureTech's Akili Expands Series C Funding, Increasing Round to
$68 Million, with $13 Million in New Investments
New Investors Include CLSA, Omidyar Technology Ventures, Digital
Garage Group, and Fearless Ventures
PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech Health"), a
clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines
for dysfunctions of the Brain-Immune-Gut (BIG), today announced
that its independent affiliate, Akili, has raised $13 million in
new funding as an extension of its recent Series C financing. The
Series C extension brings the total equity financing Akili has
raised this year to $68 million.
Participating investors include CLSA, Omidyar Technology
Ventures, Digital Garage Group, and Fearless Ventures. Akili's
initial Series C financing round was led by Temasek and included
additional investors Baillie Gifford, Amgen Ventures, M Ventures
(the CVC fund of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), JAZZ Venture
Partners, Canepa Advanced Healthcare Fund, and Brooklands Capital
Strategies.
Akili will use the funds to further advance development and
deployment of its pipeline of prescription digital treatment
candidates, including its lead product candidate, AKL-T01, through
key regulatory milestones and commercial preparations. Akili also
plans to use the funds to advance a number of other digital
treatments in development, including Major Depressive Disorder
("MDD"), multiple sclerosis ("MS") and various other inflammatory
diseases.
Bharatt Chowrira, PhD, President and Chief of Business and
Strategy at PureTech Health, said: "This financing is an additional
validation for Akili and further augments their strong cash
position as they progress on their path to offer potentially safe,
effective, and personalised digital treatments for patients across
a range of mental health and neurological conditions."
The full text of the announcement from Akili is as follows:
Akili Raises Additional $13 Million, Bringing Total Series C
Funding to $68 Million
BOSTON, Mass - August 9, 2018 - Akili Interactive ("Akili" or
"Company"), a leading prescription digital medicine company
developing novel treatments for cognitive dysfunction and
brain-related conditions, has raised $13 million in new funding as
an extension of its Series C financing, which was announced in May.
The additional funds bring the total equity capital Akili has
raised this year to $68 million. Participating investors include
CLSA, Omidyar Technology Ventures, Digital Garage Group (DG
Incubation & DG Daiwa Ventures) and Fearless Ventures. Akili's
initial Series C financing was led by Temasek and included
additional investors Baillie Gifford, Amgen Ventures, M Ventures
(the CVC fund of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany), JAZZ Venture
Partners, Canepa Advanced Healthcare Fund and Brooklands Capital
Strategies.
"Both Akili and the broader field of digital medicine have been
advancing at a significant pace," said Eddie Martucci, PhD, CEO of
Akili. "This additional backing from investors will help us
significantly drive forward the development and deployment of our
technology platform toward our goal of having a major impact in
millions of patients and toward fulfilling the immense promise of
digital medicine."
"CLSA's investments are focused on transformative ideas and
technologies that have the potential to disrupt sectors and
practices. Validated digital medicine is one such area, with
potential to change the industry, especially in treating cognitive
dysfunction," said Jonathan Slone, CEO of CLSA, Asia's leading
capital markets and investment group. "Akili is a pioneer in the
field, and we're excited to support the company's growth."
Akili's digital medicines embed specific stimuli, designed to
engage targeted areas of the brain, into immersive action video
game experiences to treat medical conditions across neurology and
psychiatry. The Company's lead digital treatment in development,
AKL-T01 in paediatric attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder
("ADHD"), is now under review by the US Food and Drug
Administration ("FDA") for marketing authorisation following the
Company's recent filing.
In December 2017, Akili announced positive top-line results of a
multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, controlled pivotal study
evaluating the safety and efficacy of AKL-T01. If cleared by FDA,
AKL-T01 would be the first prescription video game to treat a
medical condition and the first prescription digital medicine for
children with ADHD.
Akili has a number of other digital treatments in development
across neurology and psychiatry, including in Major Depressive
Disorder ("MDD"), multiple sclerosis ("MS") and various other
inflammatory diseases. By the end of 2018, Akili expects results of
both a Phase 2 study in MDD and of a pilot study in MS.
About Akili
Akili Interactive Labs, Inc. is a prescription digital medicine
company combining scientific and clinical rigor with the ingenuity
of the tech industry to reinvent medicine. Akili is pioneering the
development of digital treatments with direct therapeutic activity,
delivered not through a pill but through a high-quality action
video game experience. Akili is advancing a broad pipeline of
programs to treat cognitive deficiency and improve symptoms
associated with medical conditions across neurology and psychiatry,
including ADHD, MDD, autism spectrum disorder and various
inflammatory diseases. Akili is also developing complementary and
integrated clinical monitors and measurement-based care
applications. The Company was founded by PureTech Health (PRTC.L).
Akili is a founding member of the Digital Therapeutics Alliance.
For more information on Akili, visit: www.akiliinteractive.com.
About PureTech Health
PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC) is an advanced, clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing novel medicines for
dysfunctions of the Brain-Immune-Gut (BIG). The Company has
developed deep insight into the connection between these systems
and the resulting role in many chronic diseases, which represent
the majority of healthcare spend and have proven resistant to
established therapeutic approaches. By harnessing this emerging
field of human biology, PureTech Health has developed new
categories of medicines with the potential to have great impact on
people with serious diseases.
PureTech Health is advancing a rich pipeline of innovative
therapies across two divisions. Its Affiliates division includes
two product candidates that are preparing for potential regulatory
approval in the United States and Europe and a number of clinical
and pre-clinical programmes. These affiliates have developed
ground-breaking platforms and therapeutic candidates in
collaboration with some of the world's leading scientific
experts.
PureTech's Internal division (Ariya) is advancing a pipeline
fuelled by recent discoveries in lymphatics and immune cell
trafficking to modulate disease in a tissue-specific manner. These
programmes build on a new understanding of the transport and
biodistribution of various immune system components in order to
develop targeted therapies for diseases with major unmet needs
including cancer and autoimmune and neuroimmune disorders. One of
these programmes, which is focused on the oral administration of
nucleic acids and other biologics using milk exosomes, is being
advanced in collaboration with Roche for the potential application
across their antisense oligonucleotides platform.
For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect
with us on Twitter @puretechh.
Ownership Information and Other Required Disclosures
PureTech Health owns approximately 37.9% of Akili calculated on
a diluted basis(1) and approximately 34.4% of Akili calculated on a
fully-diluted basis(2) following the closing of this financing.
(1) This calculation includes issued and outstanding shares as
well as outstanding options to purchase shares, but excludes
unallocated shares authorised to be issued pursuant to equity
incentive plans.
(2) This calculation includes issued and outstanding shares,
outstanding options to purchase shares, and unallocated shares
authorised to be issued pursuant to equity incentive plans.
Forward Looking Statement
This press release contains statements that are or may be
forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the
company's future prospects, developments and strategies. The
forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and
are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ
materially from current expectations, including, but not limited
to, those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors
included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These
forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the
present and future business strategies of the company and the
environment in which it will operate in the future. Each
forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press
release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements,
neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise
these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
Contact:
Investors EU media US media
Allison Mead Talbot, Ben Atwell, Rob Winder Tom Donovan
Shannon Costello +44 (0) 20 3727 1000 +1 857 559 3397
+1 781 366 2457 ben.atwell@FTIconsulting.com tom@tenbridgecommunications.com
sc@puretechhealth.com
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END
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