Massachusetts-based biotech Vima Therapeutics has extended its Series A financing by $40m to advance its investigational Parkinson’s and dystonia pill, VIM0423.
This takes the company’s total funding round raise to $100m, which gathered contributions from new investor Frazier Life Sciences (FLS), as well as existing financiers, Atlas Venture, Access Industries and Canaan Partners. Vima debuted in May 2025, powered by a $60m raise with the aim of developing the first oral treatment for dystonia.
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Now that Vima has fresh capital to work with, the company will conduct two Phase II clinical trials on the selective muscarinic cholinergic receptor agonist in dystonia and Parkinson’s disease.
Targeting muscarinic receptors, which upregulate the ‘rest and digest’ portion of the nervous system, has been proven to influence disease progression in movement disorders. However, no companies have successfully introduced an on-label drug in this class to market due to their side effects, which can impact both the central and peripheral nervous system.
Vima hopes to have overcome this hurdle by designing VIM0423 to selectively target specific muscarinic receptors found in the brain, thus reducing off-target effects commonly associated with the class, such as diarrhoea and other gastrointestinal issues.
Vima has already begun its Phase II study on VIM0423 in dystonia, which dosed its first patient on 11 March 2026. Meanwhile, Vima hopes to begin its Parkinson’s study in mid-2026. The biotech expects both studies on the therapy to produce topline data in the first half of 2027.
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By GlobalDataAddressing treatment gaps in dystonia
While there has been some progress in treating dystonia, its heterogeneity often makes it challenging to find options that work for all patients.
As a neurologist, Bernard Ravina, founder and CEO of Vima, notes that he has observed the gaps and limitations of current treatment options, which he says often fail to address symptoms that impact daily function.
“Dystonia and Parkinson’s share underlying disease biology driven by an imbalance in dopamine and acetylcholine signalling in the brain, and our results reinforce that we are on the right path to modulate this biology,” Ravina commented.
Currently, dystonia treatment primarily revolves around botulinum toxin (botox)-based treatments, as well as combination treatments employing injectables and oral medications.
According to GlobalData’s Pharmaceutical Intelligence Center, there are 24 ongoing clinical trials in Phase I to III exploring the potential of therapies in dystonia.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
While a large proportion of these trials are looking at variants of botox, there are also some dopamine agonists, vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitors and combination treatments progressing through the pipeline.
