Tetra Discovery Partners Raises $10 Million through Series A Financing and Two National Institutes of Health Grants

Tetra Discovery Partners today announced that it has closed a $5 million Series A Venture Financing. The financing was co-led by the Apjohn Group and Grand Angels, with the participation of previous investors as well as Dolby Family Ventures, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, and other private investors. With conversion of two debt rounds, the total Series A financing rolls up to $7,277,825.

The company also announced the receipt of two new grants from the National Institutes of Health. The first, AG054243, a $2 million Phase 2b Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute on Aging, supports Tetra’s Phase 1 multiple-ascending dose study of BPN14770 in healthy older (age 60+) volunteers. The second, MH091791, from the National Institute of Mental Health, provides $3 million in support for Tetra’s discovery program in depression.

“We are very pleased to receive this new financing which will enable Tetra to complete the necessary preparations for a planned Phase 2a study of our lead drug candidate, BPN14770, in Alzheimer’s disease during the second half of 2017,” said Mark E. Gurney, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tetra Discovery Partners. “We have made significant progress over the last four years, advancing from initial discovery of BPN14770 through the completion of a sequence of Phase 1 clinical studies in young and elderly volunteers. We sincerely thank our investors and the National Institutes of Health for their ongoing support of our efforts.”

Donald R. Parfet of Apjohn Group joins the Tetra Board of Directors as part of the Series A financing.
“I have been following Tetra’s progress since the company’s founding,” said Donald R. Parfet, Managing Director, Apjohn Group. “Based on Tetra’s experienced management team, their efficient progress from compound discovery into human clinical trials, and the strong support that the company’s efforts have received from the National Institutes of Health, we are very pleased to lead this Series A financing.”
“We are pleased to support Tetra Discovery on a novel target for Alzheimer’s disease,” said David Dolby, Managing Director, Dolby Family Ventures. “Best-in-class new ventures in the fields of Alzheimer’s disease and brain health therapeutics are the focus of our health care investments, and Tetra’s work to date has been impressive.”

About BPN14770

BPN14770 is a novel therapeutic agent that selectively inhibits phosphodiesterase‐4D (PDE4D) to enhance early and late stages of memory formation. This unique mechanism of action has the potential

to improve cognitive and memory function in devastating CNS disorders including Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Fragile X Syndrome, learning/developmental disabilities, and schizophrenia.

Preclinical animal models show that BPN14770 has the potential to promote the maturation of connections between neurons, which is impaired in patients with Fragile X Syndrome, and to protect connections between neurons which otherwise are lost in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Tetra currently is conducting an investigational Phase 2 study of BPN14770 in adults with early Alzheimer’s disease and a second investigational Phase 2 study in adults with Fragile X Syndrome, an indication for which BPN14770 has received Orphan Drug Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). BPN14770 currently is approved for investigational use only by the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration and is not currently approved for marketing in any territory.

About Tetra Therapeutics

Tetra Therapeutics is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a portfolio of therapeutic products that will bring clarity of thought to people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Fragile X Syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and other brain disorders. Tetra uses structure-guided drug design to discover mechanistically novel, allosteric inhibitors of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), an enzyme family that plays key roles in memory formation, learning, neuroinflammation, and traumatic brain injury.  BPN14770 was developed through a cooperative research agreement with the Blueprint Neurotherapeutics Program of the National Institutes of Health with funding from the National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Mental Health, the FRAXA Research Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. Tetra Therapeutics is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.tetratherapeutics.com.

Forward looking Statements

Certain other statements made throughout this press release that are not historical facts contain forward‐looking statements regarding the company’s future plans, objectives and expected performance. Any such forward‐looking statements are based on assumptions that the company believes are reasonable, but are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties and, therefore, there can be no assurance that actual results may not differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward‐looking statements.

###

Tetra Therapeutics:
Mark Gurney, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer
Tetra Therapeutics
info@tetratherapeutics.com

For Media:  
Joan Kureczka
Bioscribe, Inc.
Joan@bioscribe.com
+1 (415) 821-2413

Download PDF

Podcast

The Bio Report
January 2, 2020
Stabilizing Neuronal Connections to Treat Cognitive Impairment in Alzheimer’s

BioTech Nation Radio
April 3, 2019
Treatments for Fragile X, Alzheimer’s disease, and traumatic brain injury.

Awards

Michigan Celebrates
May 3, 2018
Michigan 50 Company to Watch 2018

GRBJ
December 12, 2016
2016 Newsmaker of the Year finalists

PM360
December 21, 2016
Innovators 2016: Startups

In The News

July 12, 2022

Tetra Therapeutics Initiates Phase 2b/3 Clinical Studies of Investigational Drug BPN14770 in Fragile X Syndrome

July 23, 2021

Tetra Therapeutics CEO Mark Gurney retires

July 23, 2021

Tetra Therapeutics Announces Retirement of Mark Gurney and Names Chad Coberly Chief Executive Officer in Planned Succession

July 11, 2021

Decades-long quest to beat Fragile X fueled by persistence, science and relentless optimism

April 30, 2021

Experimental Treatment Boosts Cognitive Function in Fragile X Syndrome

NPR

April 29, 2021

Memory Loss Drug Appears To Help People With The Genetic Disease Fragile X

April 29, 2021

Treatment Found to Improve Cognitive Function in Patients With Fragile X Syndrome

April 29, 2021

Drug boosts cognition in men with fragile X syndrome

April 29, 2021

Inhibition of phosphodiesterase-4D in adults with fragile X syndrome: a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 2 clinical trial

April 29, 2021

Fragile X Treatment Shows Promise in Phase II Trial

April 22, 2021

Researchers take a big step in treating a genetic disorder closely linked to autism.

February 9, 2021

People with dementia had significantly greater risk of contracting the coronavirus.

February 9, 2021

Research documents more cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

December 11, 2020

New drug moves closer to becoming first treatment for Fragile X Syndrome

More News

Zatolmilast, an Investigational Treatment for Fragile X Syndrome, Receives Rare Pediatric Disease Designation from the U.S. FDA

OSAKA, Japan, September 27, 2023 – Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Japan; Chief Executive Officer: Isao Teshirogi, Ph.D.; hereafter “Shionogi”) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Tetra Therapeutics Inc. (hereafter “Tetra”), a Shionogi Group Company, Rare Pediatric Disease Designation for zatolmilast (BPN14770), an investigational

Read More »

Tetra Therapeutics Announces Positive Topline Results from Phase 2 Study of BPN14770 in Patients with Fragile X Syndrome

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tetra Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shionogi & Co. Ltd., today announced positive topline results from its Phase 2 exploratory study in adult patients with Fragile X Syndrome (FXS). The study evaluated its lead candidate, BPN14770, a first-in-class phosphodiesterase‐4D (PDE4D) allosteric inhibitor. In this single-center, randomized,

Read More »