Vima Therapeutics announced Wednesday it has raised $100 million in the hopes of bringing to market a new oral therapy that might help people with certain neurological disorders regain control of movement.
The company was hatched by biotechnology investor Atlas Venture more than three years ago. It’s since advanced a combination drug called VIM0423 to the precipice of mid-stage studies in Parkinson’s disease and dystonia. Both trials are expected to read out in 2027.
Vima estimates that about 160,000 people in the U.S. have isolated dystonia, a chronic and disabling neurological condition that causes involuntary muscle contractions that can worsen as a person moves. For a larger share, dystonia is a symptom of other brain diseases, among them Parkinson’s.
There are multiple drugs available to help people with dystonia and Parkinson’s control muscle movement. Medications like levodopa are used in both cases, as are Botox injections or other therapies that can reduce muscle stiffness. That impact can wane with time, though, or in certain cases involve prohibitive side effects. And patients with isolated dystonia, specifically, don’t have any Food and Drug Administration-approved oral options.
Vima’s drug works by selectively targeting muscarinic cholinergic receptors, which help regulate a variety of neurological functions such as motor control. Though there are older drugs available that target these kinds of receptors — such as trihexyphenidyl, a component of VIM0423 — they’re associated with poor tolerability. VIM0423 is designed to be safer and have other enhanced pharmacological properties.
“Often the problem with [neurology] is uncertainty about the mechanism, risk for later-stage failure,” said Bernard Ravina, Vima’s CEO, in an interview with BioPharma Dive. “That’s one of the reasons we really like this: clear need and match of the biology here with clinical validation.”
A neurologist by training, Ravina founded the company with Atlas after previous stints at two other brain-focused biotechs, Praxis Precision Medicines and Voyager Therapeutics. The name Vima is the Greek term for a step or stride, a reference to the company’s work on movement disorders.
Vima’s Series A round originally included $60 million and was announced alongside its public debut last year, but the company added another $40 million after unveiling early clinical data, Ravina said. Atlas, Frazier Life Sciences, Access Industries and Canaan Partners were all involved in the funding.
