Apparently a big thing is happening. The silhouette of another unicorn appears on the horizon, a company with a valuation of over a billion dollars, whose creator is Czech. Specifically, Martin Tolar, the founder of the American company Alzheon, which is developing a pill to suppress the devastating Alzheimer’s disease. The last investment round already valued Alzheon at $1.1 billion.
Tangible progress in this effort, along with increasingly positive data, has generated further interest from the investment community. According to an available report, the momentum with which Alzheon is approaching the desired goal has helped to raise additional capital worth fifty million dollars in the next round of Series E investment. This too is a clear signal of a major breakthrough.
There seems to be a logic to this breakthrough. It follows that late last month, Tolar’s company announced further progress in the development of oral drug ALZ-801 to suppress the symptoms of the devastating disease, for which there is no cure yet.
“Our new data provide many reasons for optimism in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, as well as our progress towards the commercial launch of ALZ-801 in 2025,” Alzheon said in its latest statement.
It also reads: “We are well on our way to bringing millions of people around the world suffering from Alzheimer’s disease an extremely effective and well-tolerated treatment for a disease that robs patients of their memories and the ability to think and express themselves.”
Tolar’s company supported its claims at a prestigious scientific conference two weeks ago in Gothenburg, Sweden.
There, Dr. John Hey, Alzheon’s Chief Scientific Officer, presented a Phase 2 biomarker study completed this year, which, among other things, confirms ALZ-801’s mechanism of action. The data obtained underscored the potential safety and efficacy advantages of ALZ-801 compared to plaque-clearing antibodies. Of course, the tablet also offers a simplified way to treat the patient compared to competing infusions.
Mikuláš Vlk from the Prague Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry (ÚOCHB), with whom the company founded by Tolar has been collaborating for more than two years on disease diagnosis, also performed in the Swedish in the “colors of Alzheon”.
Mikuláš Vlk presented progress in the development of a test for the detection of soluble beta amyloid oligomers. For the layman, the complex wording in practice means that this increases the ability to find patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
“We are moving towards the commercial launch of ALZ-801 in the United States and Europe, and the successful collaboration with the ÚOCHB means that we have progress in diagnostics that would complement our new therapy and refine our treatment approach to the disease,” states the statement signed by Martin Tolar.
Another study evaluating the safety and effect of ALZ-801 in patients with an early diagnosis is currently underway – this 78-week trial is scheduled to be completed in June 2024.
Alzheon’s aspiration for a business unicorn is already here. This unique award was achieved in the past, for example, by Čuprov’s company Rohlík, and after last year’s capital injection, also by the software company Productboard.
Now the unicorn is being touched by a man who came to America years ago with suitcases full of dictionaries because he couldn’t speak English properly. The unicorn is inherently a magical and fairy-tale creature, so it would be a perfect fit for Tolar’s fantastic story.
