PureTech's Akili Secures $160M in Financing

RNS Number : 8060Z

PureTech Health PLC

26 May 2021

 

26 May 2021

 PureTech Health plc

PureTech Founded Entity Akili Secures $160 Million in Financing; Poised to Deliver on the Promise of Digital Therapeutics

Funding expected to accelerate commercialization of Akili's flagship treatment, EndeavorRx™, enable expansion of core technologies to treat acute and chronic cognitive disorders, and drive further research and development of new digital therapeutics

PureTech Health plc (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company, today announced that its Founded Entity, Akili Interactive ("Akili"), has secured $160 million of combined equity and debt financing.

The financing included a $110 million Series D equity financing round led by Neuberger Berman Funds and joined by new investors Polaris Partners, Mirae Assets, Shionogi & Co., Ltd., New Leaf Venture Partners, Dave Baszucki (Founder and CEO of Roblox Corporation), QUAD Investment Management, and Ladera Venture Partners. Existing investors Temasek, Baillie Gifford, JAZZ Venture Partners, Evidity Health Capital, Omidyar Technology Ventures, Fearless Ventures, Amgen Ventures, and M Ventures (the corporate VC fund of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) also participated. In conjunction with the Series D financing, Akili also closed a credit facility for up to $50 million with Silicon Valley Bank.

The Series D brings Akili's total equity funding to $230 million to date and further positions Akili to continue leading the industry in bringing digital therapeutics to patients.

In June 2020, Akili's flagship product, EndeavorRx™, received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance as the first and only prescription video game treatment.

The full text of the announcement from Akili is as follows:

Akili Secures $160 Million in Financing; Poised to Deliver on the Promise of Digital Therapeutics

Funding will accelerate commercialization of Akili's flagship treatment EndeavorRx™, enable expansion of Akili's core technology to treat acute and chronic cognitive disorders, and drive further research and development of new technologies to treat broader range of conditions

BOSTON, May 26, 2021 - Akili Interactive ("Akili" or "Company") , maker of EndeavorRx™, the first and only prescription video game treatment, today announced $160M in combined equity and debt financing. Akili is a pioneer of a new class of medicine and treatments that are not only effective and clinically-validated but that deliver amazing experiences to patients. The Company's flagship product made history in June 2020 when it received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance. With the completion of the oversubscribed Series D financing, Akili will continue to push the boundaries of traditional medicine to deliver on the promise of digital therapeutics for patients.

The $110M Series D equity financing was led by Neuberger Berman Funds and joined by new investors Polaris Partners; Mirae Assets; Shionogi & Co., Ltd., New Leaf Venture Partners; Dave Baszucki, Founder and CEO of Roblox Corporation; QUAD Investment Management, and Ladera Venture Partners. Existing Akili investors Temasek, Baillie Gifford, JAZZ Venture Partners, Evidity Health Capital, Omidyar Technology Ventures, Fearless Ventures, Amgen Ventures, and M Ventures (the corporate VC fund of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) all participated in the financing round.

This funding will support a go-to market approach that brings EndeavorRx to families and healthcare professionals at scale and expand Akili's global footprint within attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and beyond. The financing will also enable Akili to build on the success of its patented technology platform, which has shown positive results in clinical trials across a number of indications, and further advance its pipeline of prescription digital therapeutics (PDTs) targeting a range of chronic and acute cognitive disorders. By investing in these priorities, Akili is continuing to reimagine treatment options for the hundreds of millions of people living with cognitive impairments.

"Akili is a leader in the digital therapeutics industry, setting the standard for clinical validation and advancing innovative medicine that challenges the imagination," said Gabe Cahill, Managing Director of Neuberger Berman. "We are excited to partner with Akili as the company continues to break new ground with innovative therapies that improve care, reduce healthcare costs, and provide an amazing experience for patients and their caregivers."

The financing round brings the Company's total equity funding to date to $230M and further positions Akili to continue leading the industry in delivering on the promise of bringing digital therapeutics to patients. In conjunction with the Series D financing, Akili also closed a credit facility for up to $50M with Silicon Valley Bank that provides for an optimal capital structure.

"Our $160M financing announced today is another significant step in delivering on Akili's mission to reinvent medicine," stated Santosh Shanbhag, Chief Financial Officer at Akili. "This is the latest milestone in what has been a revolutionary journey for Akili. It will enable us to bring EndeavorRx to as many appropriate patients as possible, advance our core technology, expand our global footprint, and fund research across a wide range of cognitive impairments."

Since its inception, Akili has set new standards for the digital therapeutics industry with its unparalleled commitment to advancing pioneering technology, robust clinical validation and use of data-driven insights to create amazing experiences for patients. Akili's Series D funding will support the Company's long-term strategic vision to usher in a new age of cognitive treatments and forever change the experience of medicine. 

"Akili set the bar high when we set out to challenge the status quo of medicine in 2011. Since then, we've developed a completely new treatment category that has the potential to help hundreds of millions of people living with cognitive impairments," said Eddie Martucci, PhD, Akili's co-founder and CEO. "This latest round of funding enables us to take another meaningful step towards delivering on this promise to patients, and fully realize the potential of digital treatments. Beyond treating disease, digital therapeutics of the future will be data-rich, adapt to the unique needs and preferences of each user, deliver amazing experiences, and even integrate into our everyday lives. We look forward to continuing to make the future of medicine a reality for patients."

EndeavorRx™ is a registered trademark of Akili Interactive Labs, Inc.

About EndeavorRx™

EndeavorRx™ is the first-and-only FDA-cleared treatment delivered through a video game experience. Indicated to improve attention function in children with ADHD (see full indication here ), EndeavorRx is built on the Akili Selective Stimulus Management Engine (SSME™) core technology, a proprietary technology designed to target key attentional control systems in the brain. Delivered through an action video game experience, SSME presents specific sensory stimuli and simultaneous motor challenges designed to target and activate the neural systems that play a key role in attention function while using adaptive algorithms to personalize treatment for each individual patient. To learn more about EndeavorRx, please visit  www.EndeavorRx.com .

About Akili

Akili is combining scientific and clinical rigor with the ingenuity of the tech and entertainment industries to challenge the status quo of medicine. Akili is pioneering the development of digital treatments and care solutions to help people affected by cognitive impairments. Akili's treatments are designed to directly activate the networks in the brain responsible for cognitive function and have been rigorously tested in extensive clinical studies, including prospective randomized, controlled trials. Driven by Akili's belief that effective medicine can also be fun and engaging, Akili's treatments are delivered through captivating action video game experiences. For more information, please visit www.akiliinteractive.com .

About PureTech Health

PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including inflammatory, fibrotic and immunological conditions, intractable cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases and neurological and neuropsychological disorders, among others. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline, which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech's Founded Entities, is comprised of 26 therapeutics and therapeutic candidates, including two that have received FDA clearance and European marketing authorization, as of the date of PureTech's most recently filed Annual Report on Form 20-F. All of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of therapeutic candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points based on the Company's unique insights into the biology of the brain, immune and gut, or BIG, systems and the interface between those systems, referred to as the BIG Axis.

For more information, visit  www.puretechhealth.com  or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh.

Ownership Information

PureTech's percentage ownership of Akili following the financing is approximately 23.4 percent on a diluted basis. This calculation of PureTech's holding includes issued and outstanding shares as well as options and warrants to purchase shares, but excludes unallocated shares authorized to be issued pursuant to equity incentive plans.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the Akili's use of proceeds from the combined equity and debt financing and the related goals, the company's future prospects, developments, and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the use of the funding to accelerate the commercialization of EndeavorRx™ and to further advance its pipeline of prescription digital therapeutics, and those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact: Investors EU media Allison Mead Talbot [phone] [e-mail] Ben Atwell, Rob Winder [phone] [e-mail]

 

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