VC-Run Dementia Discovery Fund Plays It Safe With First Investment

Jan 07 2016

• By Sukaina Virji

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The Dementia Discovery Fund, launched in October 2015 to much fanfare in the UK, has made its first investment in an established US biotech company – not quite the move UK scientists were hoping for. The DDF is joining a syndicate of venture capital investors in a $29.5m series D financing in Alector LLC which is using antibodies to target neurodegeneration.

The Dementia Discovery Fund, launched in October 2015 to much fanfare in the UK, has made its first investment in an established US biotech company – not quite the move UK scientists were hoping for. The DDF is joining a syndicate of venture capital investors in a $29.5m series D financing in Alector LLC which is using antibodies to target neurodegeneration.

Six pharma companies (Biogen, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly & Co., Pfizer Inc. and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company), the...

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