EQT Life Sciences today announced its investment in QurAlis Corporation (“QurAlis”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing breakthrough precision medicines for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s oversubscribed $88 million Series B financing was co-led by EQT Life Sciences, investing from the LSP Dementia Fund,Sanofi Ventures, and Droia Ventures, with participation from the ALS Investment Fund and existing investors LS Polaris Innovation Fund, Mission BioCapital, INKEF Capital, Dementia Discovery Fund, Amgen Ventures, MP Healthcare Venture Management, Mitsui Global Investment, Dolby Family Ventures, Mission Bay Capital, and Sanford Biosciences.

Proceeds from the financing will fund the clinical development of QRL-101 and QRL-201, the Company’s lead product candidates in ALS. In addition, the financing will support the advancement of QurAlis’ preclinical pipeline of therapeutic candidates for selected ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patient populations, as defined by disease-causing genetic factors and clinical biomarkers.

QRL-101 is a first-in-class Kv7.2/7.3 small molecule ion channel opener for the treatment of hyperexcitability-induced disease progression in ALS. QurAlis announced the first dosing of QRL-101 in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05667779) in December 2022.

QRL-201 is a first-in-class antisense oligonucleotide that aims to restore STATHMIN-2 (STMN2) expression in ALS patients. STMN2 is important for neural repair and axonal stability, and its expression is significantly decreased in nearly all ALS patients. QurAlis also announced that QRL-201 recently entered the clinic in the first-ever clinical trial to evaluate a therapy that rescues STMN2 in people with ALS (ANQUR; NCT05633459).

“QurAlis stands out as a leader in the field of neurodegenerative diseases with its next-generation precision medicines and genetically validated targets,” said Prof. Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD, EQT Partner and Head of the LSP Dementia Fund. ‘’We are delighted to support QurAlis and its biomarker-centric approach across neurodegenerative indications and look forward to productive collaborations with the company to advance two therapies through clinical development.’’

“We are fortunate to be funded by this outstanding group of investors who share our commitment to patients with neurodegenerative diseases and our vision to halt disease progression and significantly improve outcomes,” said Kasper Roet, PhD, CEO and co-founder of QurAlis. “This financing will help us advance the clinical development of both QRL-101 and QRL-201, as well as our other lead product candidates and pipeline, so that we can fulfill our mission to make a meaningful difference in patients’ lives.”

As part of the Series B financing, Cillian King, PhD will join QurAlis’ board of directors and Arno de Wilde, MD, PhD, MBA, will join as board observer on behalf of EQT Life Sciences.


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