Noema Pharma has raised CHF54 million ($60 million) to advance clinical-stage neurological disease drugs it picked up from Roche. The series A gives ex-Roche Vice President George Garibaldi, M.D., a chance to realize the potential of assets that fell by the wayside at the Swiss pharma after posting lackluster data.
Roche has provided four candidates to Noema in return for a stake in the Basel-based biotech. The most advanced of the prospects is the phase 2b-ready mGluR5 inhibitor NOE-101. Roche developed an mGluR5 therapy for use in Fragile X syndrome, only to fail in phase 2, pivot to major depression and ultimately abandon the asset. AstraZeneca and Novartis have also dumped mGluR5 drugs in the past.
Noema sees a different future for Roche’s mGluR5 inhibitor. A phase 2b trial in tuberous sclerosis complex, a disease that, like Fragile X, is caused by mutations that disrupt synaptic protein synthesis, is planned. Noema is also setting up a phase 2b in severe pain in trigeminal neuralgia.
NOE-105, a PDE10A inhibitor, is following closely behind the lead candidate. Roche tested a PDE10A inhibitor, RG7203, in schizophrenia patients but was surprised to find it worsened indices of reward functions, leading it to see no future for the drug as an adjunctive treatment for negative symptoms of the disease and drop it from its pipeline in 2018.
Noema is preparing to study NOE-105 in Tourette syndrome in a phase 2b trial. Interest in targeting PDE10A to treat Tourette dates back more than a decade, but the hypothesis remains unvalidated. Noema wants to change that.
With two other ex-Roche drugs in earlier development, Noema has persuaded VCs to bankroll its plans. Sofinnova Partners and Polaris Partners led the round with the support of Gilde Healthcare, Invus and BioMed Partners. Polaris, a U.S.-based investor, called Noema “a prime example of the exceptional pharma-grade assets Europe has to offer, along with a flourishing talent pool.”
Garibaldi, who worked on neuroscience at Roche from 2006 to 2016, is chief medical officer at Noema. Another former Roche researcher, John Kemp, occupies the chief scientific officer role. Kemp worked on CNS research at Roche from 1994 to 2001 before taking up posts at Evotec and Johnson & Johnson. Garibaldi and Kemp are joined in the C-suite by Luigi Costa, who led Nordic Nanovector before becoming entrepreneur in residence at Sofinnova. Costa is CEO at Noema.