Laverock Therapeutics announces appointment of Ali Elsley as Finance Director and expansion of team

STEVENAGE, United Kingdom, March 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Laverock Therapeutics, a gene-silencing company with a uniquely powerful technology for the development of programmable advanced therapies to tackle major diseases, today announces the appointment of Ali Elsley as Finance Director.

Ali has extensive experience in the biotechnology and pharma sector working with both private and public companies. She joins from Acacia Pharma Group plc, an early commercial-stage listed pharma company, where she was Group Financial Controller and Company Secretary and focused on equity fundraising, M&A activity and all aspects of financial operations. Prior to this, she spent 10 years as an auditor with PwC LLP in Cambridge, with a focus on early-stage biotech and pharma companies, together with advisory IPO work. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and holds a degree in Archaeology and Anthropology from the University of Cambridge.

In addition to Ali’s appointment, Laverock has significantly grown its team to 24 people, representing growth of 50% over the past year, and expanded its R&D facilities in the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst as it continues to build its capabilities following its £13.5m expanded seed round announced in September last year, the second highest seed investment by a UK company in 2023.

David Venables, CEO of Laverock, said: “Ali has an exceptional track record working with innovative biotechnology and pharma companies. I very much look forward to working closely with her and the rest of our fast-growing team as we continue to apply our uniquely powerful gene-silencing technology to the development of a new generation of programmable advanced therapies to tackle major diseases.”

Ali Elsley, FD of Laverock, said: “Laverock’s technology has the potential to create a step-change in advanced therapies and I have been hugely impressed with the pace of progress since joining the company. The management team and Board are exceptionally strong, and I believe we have a very solid foundation from which to deliver on the promise.”

For further information please contact:

Laverock Therapeutics:

E: contact@laverocktx.com

Media Enquiries :

Charles Consultants
Sue Charles – Sue@charles-consultants.com +44 (0)7968 726585
Chris Gardner – Chris@CGComms.onmicrosoft.com +44 (0)7956 031077

About Laverock Therapeutics

Laverock Therapeutics is a gene-silencing company with a uniquely powerful technology which harnesses the cell’s natural gene regulatory mechanisms to develop a new generation of programmable advanced therapies to tackle major diseases. Laverock’s truly innovative technology re-directs naturally-occurring micro RNAs (miRNAs) to conditionally silence genes in a way which is programmable, tunable, stable and specific. This opens a path to more effective, safer and accessible advanced therapies. Laverock is applying its technology through its own pipeline – targeting regenerative medicine and oncology – and through partnerships.

Laverock has a highly experienced leadership team with proven track records in biotechnology, pharma and academia, and an exceptionally strong Board. Laverock completed a £13.5m seed round in September 2023. Its high-calibre investors include Calculus Capital, Eli Lilly and Company, Mercia Ventures, Maven Capital Partners, Eos, UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Tekfen Ventures.

For more information, please visit www.laverocktx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Alpha Cognition – developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Alpha Cognition is a clinical stage, biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel treatments for under-served neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Alpha Cognition - developing novel treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

ALPHA-1062, a patented new chemical entity that has demonstrated safety and improved ALPHA-1062, is a patented new chemical entity being developed as a new generation acetylcholinesterase inhibitor for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, with expected minimal gastrointestinal side effects. ALPHA-1062’s active metabolite is differentiated from donepezil and rivastigmine in that it binds neuronal nicotinic receptors, most notably the alpha-7 subtype, which is known to have a positive effect on cognition. ALPHA-1062 is also being developed in combination with memantine to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer’s dementia and as an intranasal formulation for traumatic brain injury.

ALPHA-0602 (Progranulin) is expressed in several cell types in the central nervous system and in peripheral tissues, promotes cell survival, regulates certain inflammatory processes, and plays a significant role in regulating lysosomal function and microglial responses to disease. Its intended use for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases has been patented by the Company and Alpha-0602 has been granted an Orphan Drug Designation for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis by the FDA.

ALPHA-0702 and ALPHA-0802 are Granulin Epithelin Motifs, or GEMs, derived from full length progranulin which have therapeutic potential across multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Progranulin is comprised of 7½ Granulin Epithelin Motifs (GEMs). GEMs are important in regulating cell growth, survival, repair, and inflammation. Individual granulin domain peptides are approximately 60 amino acids in length (~7kDa). GEMs are metabolically stable and resistant to proteolysis (long half-life). Evidence suggests that not all GEMs are equally potent at promoting cell survival signaling or reducing proteinopathy, and may compete (e.g., binding to effectors) with active GEMs and effectively decrease their potency. Specific GEM combinations have been shown to be more effective than full length progranulin in promoting Cathepsin D maturation. GEMs have been shown to be important in regulating cell growth, survival, repair, and inflammation. Alpha-0702 and ALPHA-0802 are designed to deliver this with potentially lower toxicity, and greater therapeutic effect.

More info : http://www.alphacognition.com/

Keywords : Alpha Cognition , neurodegenerative diseases , dementia , Alzheimer’s Dementia , Alzheimer Disease , Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis , acetylcholinesterase inhibitor , orphan drug , CNS , neuroscience , traumatic brain injury , Granulin Epithelin Motifs , Gene Therapy

Cytena – single cells on demand

Cytena – single cells on demand

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