CNS play Prexton closes A round

Prexton Therapeutics S.A. (Plan les Ouates, Switzerland) raised EUR 8.7 million ($9.9 million) in a series A round co-led by new investors Sunstone Capital and Ysios Capital. Existing investor MS Ventures also participated. Prexton plans to start a Phase I trial in early 2016 of its lead positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 4 ( mGluR4; GRM4) to treat symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Prexton was the first spinout of Merck Serono S.A.'s Entrepreneur Partnership Program, which was launched as part of a major restructuring by Merck KGaA (Xetra:MRK), Merck Serono's parent company (see BioCentury, Feb. 11, 2013). ...