After emerging from stealth last month with $175 million, Korsana Biosciences has wasted no time in plotting a path to the public markets.
The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company has entered into a reverse merger with the neuro-focused public company Cyclerion Therapeutics. Following the all-stock transaction—which is expected to complete in the third quarter—the merged company will operate under the Korsana brand, with a focus on Korsana’s lead Alzheimer’s asset and a Nasdaq ticker switched to “KRSA.”
In support of the merger, Korsana has secured a private investment of $380 million from a group of backers led by Fairmount and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, according to an April 1 release. Other investors include the likes of General Atlantic, TCGX, Forbion, RA Capital Management, RTW Investments, Foresite Capital, J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital, SR One and Sanofi Ventures among others.
The merged company will be focused on Korsana’s KRSA-028, a monoclonal antibody designed to cross the blood-brain barrier in order to treat Alzheimer’s patients. The plan is to take the asset into a phase 1 trial so that data on amyloid plaque clearance in patients with the neurodegenerative disease can read out by the end of 2027. KRSA-028 is designed to cross the blood-brain barrier by binding to transferrin receptors, which normally shuttle iron into the brain.
The approach has become a popular one in the Alzheimer’s space. Roche is in the process of recruiting for a phase 3 trial for its own transferrin-binding candidate, trontinemab, while AbbVie picked up a similar asset in its $1.4 billion buyout of Aliada Therapeutics in October 2024.
Korsana CEO Jonathan Violin, Ph.D., who will continue to lead the merged company, touted KRSA-028’s potential to become a “ best-in-class product to treat Alzheimer’s disease” in today’s release.
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KRSA-028 is one of several assets that stem from discoveries made by protein-engineering specialist Paragon Therapeutics, which has also launched biotechs like Apogee Therapeutics, Spyre Therapeutics and Oruka Therapeutics.
The fresh funding will also support Korsana’s other assets, which the company’s website lists as two undisclosed candidates that are nearing the end of the discovery phase.
For Cylcerion, the path to Korsana has been anything but direct. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company laid off 45% of its staff in 2022 amid a strategic shift toward mitochondria-related diseases, before pivoting once more to focus on neuropsychiatry last year.
Cyclerion CEO Regina Graul, Ph.D., said in the release that the Korsana transaction is the result of a strategic review and represents the best option for Cyclerion shareholders moving forward. Those shareholders are expected to own 1.5% of the merged company, with Korsana’s stockholders holding the remainder.
