Closes $20M Oversubscribed Seed Expansion, Appoints Troy Wilson as Chairman of the Board
Summary
The fact that we have been able to rapidly generate in vivo proof of concept and move towards IND enabling studies in just one year underscores the strength of our team and the BrainOnly platform.On behalf of the investor syndicate and the board, we congratulate the Montara team, which has made exceptional progress and achieved all the R&D goals of the original seed round, a culmination of careful planning and outstanding execution during the companys incubation phase and based on the foundational work from Dr. Kevan Shokats lab at UCSF, commented Dirk Landgraf, Ph.D., Principal at SV and Director. Significantly expanding this funding round, bringing in new committed partners, and strengthening the board of directors, all in what some find a challenging fundraising environment, speak to Montaras outstanding productivity and the transformative potential of the BrainOnly platform for patients, added J. Seth Strattan, PhD, General Partner at Two Bear Capital and Director.In connection with the financing, Troy E. Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., has joined Montara as an Independent Director and Chairman of the Board. I look forward to working with Nicholas, the team, and the board to advance this groundbreaking science and bring transformative treatments to patients.Montaras BrainOnly platform is designed to improve the therapeutic index of CNS drugs and enable higher, more effective dosing of CNS-targeted therapies by blocking peripheral side effects, addressing major safety and tolerability challenges in the treatment of various neurological diseases. Montaras BrainOnly platform enables brain-specific pharmacology by leveraging existing and novel chemical warheads, restricting deleterious on-target / off-tissue peripheral activity. BrainOnly holds the potential to drug numerous targets previously considered undruggable greatly expanding the therapeutic options for patients in need of these therapies.