AstronauTx exercises option from Saniona to acquire worldwide rights to neurological disease program under research collaboration
- Development candidate ATX0926 enters IND-enabling stage of development expanding AstronauTx's pipeline of therapies targeting sleep biology
- Represents the successful outcome of a multi-year scientific collaboration between AstronauTx and Saniona
- Saniona receives shares in AstronauTx with a value of US$5 million
Saniona (OMX: SANION), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on neurological and psychiatric disorders, and AstronauTx Ltd ("AstronauTx"), a biotechnology company developing therapeutics to treat neurological disorders by improving sleep architecture, today announce that AstronauTx has exercised its option under the companies' 2023 Research Collaboration and Option Agreement to secure exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize therapeutic candidates arising from the collaboration.
Saniona and AstronauTx entered into a research collaboration and option agreement in 2023 to discover new treatments for neurological conditions by modulating a novel, undisclosed ion channel target. The collaboration combined Saniona's proprietary IonBase™ ion channel discovery platform with AstronauTx's expertise in sleep biology and neuroscience to identify novel small-molecule modulators of the target.
The collaboration has successfully delivered the development candidate ATX0926, which is expected to enter IND-enabling studies shortly. Exercising the option gives AstronauTx exclusive worldwide rights to advance the program through preclinical and clinical development, manufacturing, regulatory approval and commercialization. In consideration for exercising the option, AstronauTx will issue Series A shares to Saniona with a total value of US$5 million, priced on the same terms as AstronauTx's Series A financing completed in October 2023. Saniona will recognize income of US$5 million and record a corresponding investment in AstronauTx of the same amount on its balance sheet.
"AstronauTx's decision to exercise its option is a strong endorsement of both the scientific progress achieved through our collaboration and Saniona's ion channel discovery platform. It demonstrates our ability to generate and advance high-quality development candidates together with world-class partners while enabling us to retain meaningful long-term value through equity ownership, milestones and royalties. We are excited to see ATX0926 advance toward clinical development," said Thomas Feldthus, Chief Executive Officer of Saniona.
"Exercising this option reflects the strength of the science that has come out of our collaboration with Saniona and our conviction in this target and its mechanism of promoting glymphatic flow as a potential new approach to treating neurological disease. " said Jane Rhodes, Chief Executive Officer of AstronauTx. "As we prepare to enter clinical development with our lead program, ATX0926 further strengthens our pipeline and supports our strategy of targeting sleep architecture to influence causal biological processes that drive neurological disease."
For more information, please contact
AstronauTx
Optimum Strategic Communications
Nick Bastin, Katie Flint, Katherine Bliss
astronautx@optimumcomms.com
+44 20 3922 1906
Saniona
Johnny Stilou, CFO
+45 21 22 72 27
johnny.stilou@saniona.com
About the AstronauTx–Saniona Collaboration
In July 2023, Saniona and AstronauTx entered into a research collaboration and option agreement to discover novel treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions by modulating a novel, undisclosed ion channel target.
In August 2026, AstronauTx exercised its option to obtain worldwide exclusive rights to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize therapeutic candidates arising from the collaboration through the issuance of Series A shares in AstronauTx with a total value of US$5 million.
Saniona is eligible to receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to US$172 million, comprising up to US$97 million in development and regulatory milestones and up to US$75 million in commercial milestones, in addition to tiered royalties on net sales of any products commercialized by AstronauTx under the collaboration.
About AstronauTx Ltd
AstronauTx is targeting sleep architecture as a therapeutic approach to treat neurological disease. Our thesis is that changes in sleep architecture underpin disease and that sleep is a modifiable risk factor for chronic neurodegeneration. By improving slow wave sleep quality, we aim to reverse symptoms of, and slow cognitive decline associated with, ageing and dementia. Our approach is grounded in a combination of well-defined, quantifiable biological endpoints, such as EEG-based sleep architecture metrics and measurable improvements in cognitive function and glymphatic flow.
Founded by SV Health’s Dementia Discovery Fund, AstronauTx completed a £48 million/$61 million Series A financing in October 2023, led by the Novartis Venture Fund, with participation from SV’s Dementia Discovery Fund, MPM BioImpact, Brandon Capital, EQT Life Sciences and Bristol Myers Squibb.
For more information visit astronauTx.bio
About Saniona
Saniona is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and delivering innovative treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders. The company’s internal pipeline includes SAN2668 for pediatric epilepsy syndromes, SAN2219 for epilepsy, and SAN2465 for major depressive disorder. Saniona has established strategic collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies, including Jazz Pharmaceuticals, which holds global rights to SAN2355 for epilepsy, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, which holds worldwide rights to ACP-711 for essential tremor, and with Medix, which holds rights to tesofensine for obesity in Mexico and Argentina. Saniona’s ion channel discovery platform is further validated through research collaborations with Boehringer Ingelheim, Cephagenix, and AstronauTx, which holds worldwide rights to ATX0926. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Saniona is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Main Market.
For more information, visit www.saniona.com.
This information is information that Saniona AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 2026-08-10 08:00 CEST.