The research funding of EUR 3.6 million will finance Herantis’ Phase 1b clinical trial and expand the on-going biomarker project, it states.

“We are proud to be awarded funding for the HER-096 Phase 1b clinical trial from Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech and The Michael J. Fox Foundation, two prestigious organizations in this field. This external validation of Herantis’ science recognizes the potential of HER-096 as a promising drug candidate for treatment of Parkinson’s disease,” says Antti Vuolanto, CEO of Herantis.

The research funding will be paid in cash to Herantis over a two-year period, in three tranches, upon completion of agreed milestones. Repayment of the research funding will be triggered only if Herantis enters into a licensing or sub-licensing agreement or, if HER-096 generates product sales. Subject to the commercial success of HER-096, no more than 10% of the cash or non-cash consideration Herantis receives will be repaid to MJFF and Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech up until the maximum of four times the research funding received.

The Phase 1b clinical trial

The Phase 1b clinical trial aims to show that repeated subcutaneous doses of HER-096 are safe and well-tolerated in Parkinson’s patients, provide pharmacokinetics profile for planning HER-096 dosing in Phase 2, and collect exploratory biomarker data for future clinical trials.

“MJFF is proud to support a wide range of treatment approaches across the globe,” says Katharina Klapper, director of clinical research, MJFF. “We are constantly seeking to support new disease-modifying therapies for people with Parkinson’s and we look forward to seeing the outcomes of this clinical trial.”

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