Alzheimer’s disease (AD) progression involves microglial activation, and restoring or maintaining microglia homeostasis is a therapeutic approach to fight against AD.

Newco Elkedonia SAS has raised €11 million (US$12.7 million) in a seed round, which will fund it to take a potentially first-in-class ELK-1 inhibitor into the clinic in the treatment of refractory depression. ELK-1 plays a pivotal role in neuroplasticity and in reward circuits in the brain, which when disrupted can lead to depression, addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Capsida Biotherapeutics Inc. has obtained IND clearance from the FDA for CAP-003, an intravenously administered gene therapy, for Parkinson’s disease associated with GBA mutations (PD-GBA). A phase I/II trial will begin dosing in the third quarter of this year.