Mission & History

Mission

We strive to discover and develop truly effective small molecule therapeutics with the potential to treat the root cause of neurodegeneration and radically improve the quality of life of patients with neurodegenerative diseases.

To reach our ambitious goals, our team of experienced drug developers and scientists is working to the highest standards. Our decisions are driven by scientific excellence, patient-focus, and integrity towards our stakeholders, with one ultimate goal: to deliver truly effective therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases and transform the lives of patients suffering neurodegenerative proteinopathies, such as orphan tauopathies, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Asceneuron has two small molecule O-GlcNAcase inhibitors (ASN51 and ASN90) in clinical development for the treatment of proteinopathies which characterized by the intracellular accumulation of toxic protein aggregates.

History

Asceneuron was founded in 2012 through a spin-off of Merck Serono’s Alzheimer’s drug discovery portfolio and research group in Switzerland. We are a privately held company financed by a strong syndicate of investors consisting of Sofinnova Partners, SR One, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), Kurma Partners and Merck Ventures.

Our executive management team combines research and development excellence with business and fundraising experience to bring innovation to patients. Our highly skilled scientists have extensive experience in all aspects of the drug discovery value chain. Our drug development has been supported by multiple prestigious grants and research awards from world renowned foundations such as Cure PSP, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) as well as The Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF).

Asceneuron pursues a semi-virtual operating model. Our unique biochemical assays, biomarker discovery activities and pharmacology models are pursued in-house, while we collaborate with leading contract research organizations for other activities such as medicinal chemistry. Asceneuron operates in a state-of-the-art facility at the EPFL Innovation Park in Lausanne, Switzerland, in proximity to leading academic institutions in the Lake Geneva area. Our clinical studies are supported by our clinical team located in the San Francisco bay area in the US.