Seattle-based Alzheimer's biotech AltPep Corp. has raised $44.4 million in equity funding, according to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The filing notes AltPep aims to raise a total of $75 million, leaving an additional $30.6 million the company is planning to raise. AltPep raised a $23.1 million Series A round in January 2021.
“This funding will allow us to build upon our promising preliminary data demonstrating detection of Alzheimer’s disease at its earliest stages and further our preclinical therapeutic program,” AltPep CEO Valerie Daggett said in the release announcing the Series A round.
AltPep's board members include Chad Robins, CEO and co-founder of Seattle-based Adaptive Biotechnologies, and Todd Patrick, former president and CEO of Marina del Rey, California-based Armata Pharmaceuticals. Patrick retired in August 2021, according to his LinkedIn page. Daggett, meanwhile, is a longtime professor of bioengineering at the University of Washington.
AltPep was founded in 2019. An AltPep spokesperson said the company didn't have further information to add at this time.
According to its website, AltPep targets amyloid diseases, which include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Type 2 diabetes. The company's technology, which relies on computer modeling, is meant to identify Alzheimer's and Parkinson's before symptoms show, and it aims to neutralize early triggers, called "toxic soluble oligomers," of the diseases.
AltPep's funding round comes amid a difficult year for many Seattle-area biotechs. Bothell-based Athira Pharma, which is also focused on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, saw its stock tumble in June after disappointing clinical trial results. Athira has faced a litany of challenges since former CEO Leen Kawas was placed on temporary leave in June 2021 and later resigned due to scrutiny of her doctoral work at Washington State University.
Adaptive, meanwhile, laid off about 100 workers in March as part of an organizational shakeup. Seattle-based Silverback Therapeutics on Thursday announced it will merge with San Diego-based ARS Pharmaceuticals, which is developing an epinephrine nasal spray. Silverback announced in March that it had discontinued its oncology program after disappointing clinical results.
