Montara Therapeutics Secures $8 Million to Advance Brain-Targeting Drug Platform

Montara Therapeutics, Inc. has announced the successful completion of an $8 million seed financing round, led by SV Health Investors’ Dementia Discovery Fund and co-lead by Two Bear Capital. This funding aims to accelerate the development of Montara's innovative BrainOnly™ platform, designed to create safer and more effective neurological drugs by concentrating their activity solely within the brain.

Addressing Neurological Treatment Challenges

Neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, and brain cancers often face significant treatment barriers due to the blood-brain barrier and peripheral side effects of drugs. These side effects, which occur when drugs act on tissues outside the brain, can limit dosage and compromise both safety and efficacy, leaving many neurological targets undruggable.

See also: Companies Driving Innovation To Fight Alzheimer’s Disease

Montara's BrainOnly platform seeks to overcome these challenges by preventing peripheral side effects and focusing drug activity in the brain. This approach enhances the safety and therapeutic index of neurological drugs, potentially transforming the treatment landscape for these critical diseases.

The BrainOnly Platform Mechanism

The BrainOnly platform employs a two-drug combination therapy. It pairs a brain-penetrant target-specific drug with a non-brain penetrant peripheral blocker. This combination ensures the drug's activity is restricted to the brain, avoiding peripheral toxicities. This method has been clinically validated for Parkinson’s disease with the combination of carbidopa and levodopa. Montara's innovation provides a scalable platform to develop similar combination therapies for a broader range of neurological conditions.

This technology stems from pioneering research conducted at the Shokat Lab at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and was detailed in a 2022 Nature publication. The platform is exclusively licensed from UCSF through its Office of Technology Management and Advancement.

Utilization of Seed Funding

With the newly secured funding, Montara plans to advance its universal peripheral blocker alongside a neurological disease-targeting drug known for its clinical benefits but hampered by severe peripheral side effects. The company is also initiating chemistry programs for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. Key additions to Montara’s Board of Directors include Dr. Dirk Landgraf from SV and Dr. J. Seth Strattan from Two Bear Capital, both bringing extensive expertise in neuroscience drug development.

Read an interview with Laurence Barker, a partner at SV Health Investors and a key figure in the Dementia Discovery Fund franchise: How Precision Neuroscience and Drug Synergies Could Revolutionize Neurology

Topics: Startups & Deals