Dutch biotech Kynexis has banked €97m ($113m) through an extended Series A funding round, which the company will use to support the mid-to-late-stage development efforts for its lead cognitive disorder asset KYN-5356.
Backed by notable contributors like Novartis’ venture arm and Forbion, Kynexis will use the funds to facilitate close-out activities for its US-based, proof-of-concept Phase II study of KYN-5356, which is currently evaluating the drug’s adjunctive potential in cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). Kynexis expects to report topline results from this trial, which has enrolled around 150 adults with CIAS across 13 clinical sites, by the end of 2026.
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Alongside the Phase II trial, the funding will also help Kynexis prepare for its planned registrational trial on KYN-5356 in CIAS, while exploring the drug’s potential in other cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Kynexis has developed its oral lead therapy, KYN-5356, as a potentially first-in-class option for CIAS – a disease which currently has no specifically approved treatment options. Designed as an inhibitor of a key brain enzyme, kynurenine aminotransferase II (KAT-II), Kynexis claims that the drug can restore the signalling balance to receptors in the brain that are responsible for learning, memory and executive function.
While the estimated prevalence of CIAS amongst the schizophrenic patient population varies significantly, a recent paper published in Schizophrenia Research: Cognition estimates that cognitive impairment is present in around 80% of patients with the condition. According to a 2026 real-world analysis, many patients with schizophrenia also display signs of CIAS, though most remain undiagnosed.
Reinvigorating the schizophrenia treatment landscape
With a large portion of schizophrenia patients impacted by cognitive impairment and no approved therapies that can address such an affliction, there is a clear unmet need for the condition.
While Kynexis’ drug could hold the potential to fulfil some significant unmet needs in this space, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS)-owned Karuna’s Cobenfy (xanomeline and trospium chloride) could also offer new hope for patients with CIAS, as a retrospective analysis of a Phase III trial previously revealed that patients taking the drug performed better on a cognitive test than those in the placebo group.
Alongside this development, Orzyon Genomics is also conducting the Phase II EVOLUTION study (EUCT 2023-507372-42-00) on its selective LSD1 inhibitor, vafidemstat, for the treatment of CIAS.
Meanwhile, Monument Therapeutics has also begun a Phase I/II study (NCT07226895) on its drug, MT-1988, in patients who are at high clinical risk of psychosis, which is looking at cognitive, clinical, biological and digital measures in patients after eight weeks of treatment.
