Venture capital fundraising can be tough enough without the added challenges of a pandemic. Nonetheless, Seattle-based biotechnology company Athira Pharma has landed an impressive $85 million for an upcoming round of pivotal testing on its NDX-1017 drug that seeks to restore brain function in Alzheimer’s patients. The company’s courting of investors, most intense from February through April, […]

There haven’t been a lot of big venture rounds for biotech companies looking to run a Phase II study in Alzheimer’s. The field has been a disaster over the past decade. Amyloid didn’t pan out as a target — going down in a litany of Phase III failures — and is now making its last […]

Athira Pharma changed its name last year to reflect its focus on regenerative medicine. Now, it’s snagged $85 million to advance those medicines, which includes bankrolling a phase 2/3 trial in Alzheimer’s for its lead asset. Formerly known as M3 Biotechnology, the Seattle-based biotech landed on its new moniker, derived from the Arabic word meaning […]