Nura Bio, a biotech company focused on neurodegenerative diseases, has raised $73.8 million in a Series B funding round, according to Endpoints News.
The company announced the raise on Monday and said the money will fund two of its drug programs through early-stage clinical trials, Endpoints News reported. In practical terms, that means Nura now has the cash to begin testing its experimental treatments in people.
The programs target an enzyme called SARM1. SARM1 plays a role in how nerve cells break down and die, a process that underlies many neurodegenerative conditions. By developing SARM1 inhibitors — drugs designed to block that enzyme — Nura is betting it can slow or prevent the kind of nerve damage seen in these diseases.
Endpoints News reported that the funding should support Nura's clinical work as it moves these candidates forward.
Why it matters: neurodegenerative diseases remain among the hardest conditions to treat, with few effective therapies, so fresh money behind a novel biological approach like SARM1 inhibition signals continued investor appetite for tackling nerve damage at its source.