China's Neushen Therapeutics gets $20m pre-Series A

CNS disorders are increasingly recognized as major causes of death and disability worldwide while the diagnosis and treatments have largely lagged. Urgent measures are needed to tackle the growing challenges, according to a statement.

Neushen’s work in this space to date has focused on gene therapy and small molecule programs based on adeno-associated viruses (AAV), which can be engineered at the DNA level to create cell treatments. The company is collaborating with the University of Massachusetts in this area.

"Bringing breakthroughs and learnings from other disease targets such as ophthalmology, oncology and haematology, we believe AAV-based gene therapy represents a new opportunity in the treatment of CNS disorders,” said Guangping Gao, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.

“My colleagues and I at Horae Gene Therapy Center are looking forward to working with Neushen to explore these treatment opportunities. The experiences of Neushen team in neurosciences will be critical to make this happen.”

Healthcare-focused Lapam currently manages five renminbi-denominated funds and one US-dollar fund, with more than CNY 10bn under management. It has backed 60 biopharmaceutical companies and 10 medical device companies to date, focusing on early to mid-stage investments.

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