Lead program KRSA-028 is a next-generation shuttled monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid beta for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease
KRSA-028 preclinical data support potential for a best-in-class therapeutic profile enabled by THETA™, Korsana’s proprietary TfR1-based therapeutic targeting platform
Korsana is led by veteran CEO Jonathan Violin, Ph.D., and is the seventh company launched based on assets discovered by Paragon Therapeutics
Company is capitalized through key clinical milestones in 2027, with cash runway into 2028
Korsana Biosciences, Inc. (“Korsana” or the “Company”), a biotechnology company discovering and developing novel therapies to reduce the burden of neurodegenerative diseases, today announced its emergence from stealth, with backing from a leading syndicate of healthcare investors. The Company was founded in 2024 with a $25 million seed investment from Fairmount and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. In September 2025, the Company closed a $150 million private Series A financing co-led by Wellington Management and TCGX, with participation by J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Sanofi Ventures, Foresite Capital, and others. This funding is being used to develop potential best-in-class therapeutics to treat neurodegenerative diseases, with an initial focus on Alzheimer’s disease.
Korsana’s lead program is KRSA-028, a next-generation shuttled antibody targeting amyloid beta for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, discovered in partnership with Paragon Therapeutics. KRSA-028 utilizes the proprietary Therapeutic Targeting (THETA™) platform, which incorporates clinically validated transferrin receptor (TfR1) and Fc engineering and is designed to improve brain delivery and solve limitations of other TfR1-based approaches. KRSA-028 was designed to increase amyloid plaque clearance, reduce the rate of amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA) and hematologic adverse events, and optimize convenience and compliance with a low-volume subcutaneous route of administration. Korsana is advancing a pipeline of innovative THETA-enabled therapies for other undisclosed, neurodegenerative diseases with high unmet need.
Korsana has appointed Jonathan Violin, Ph.D. as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Violin has been a venture partner at Fairmount since 2023 and previously served as founding CEO for Viridian Therapeutics from 2020 to 2023. Dr. Violin was also the founding CEO of Dianthus Therapeutics and of Quellis Biosciences, which merged into Astria Therapeutics.
“We are thrilled to announce the launch of Korsana with a mission to elevate expectations for patients suffering from devastating neurodegenerative diseases,” said Dr. Violin. “In particular, Alzheimer’s disease represents a massive and growing unmet need, with the U.S. patient population projected to double to approximately 13 million by 2050. Only two disease-modifying therapies have been approved to treat Alzheimer’s, and both carry safety warnings, offer only modest efficacy, and impose a high burden of care. Patients deserve better options than what is currently available, and we believe our lead program KRSA-028 can deliver a best-in-class product to treat Alzheimer’s. I am thrilled with the robust support of our mission by Korsana’s investors, and excited to build another leading biotechnology company in partnership with the team at Paragon Therapeutics.”
“We believe Korsana is well positioned to overcome the limitations of not just first-generation Alzheimer’s therapies, but also of earlier shuttle technologies,” added Andrew Gottesdiener, M.D., partner at Venrock and co-Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of Korsana. “Leveraging a well-established regulatory pathway, Korsana is advancing the next generation of therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, with a clear path to creating value for patients.We are thrilled to work with Korsana to build what I believe will become an important and valuable company. Together, we are committed to delivering better medicines to patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases.”
Korsana’s initial financing is expected to fund activities into 2028 and provides runway through key clinical milestones, which include potentially differentiating pharmacokinetics, CNS penetration, and safety data from healthy volunteers expected in mid-year 2027, and initial proof of concept data demonstrating amyloid plaque clearance in Alzheimer’s patients expected by the end of 2027.
“We are excited to come together with the rest of this investor syndicate to support Korsana’s launch,” said Nilesh Kumar, Head of Biotech Private Investments, Wellington Management and Member of the Board of Directors of Korsana. “We look forward to seeing KRSA-028 and Korsana’s pipeline of innovative therapies advance through key clinical milestones in the coming years.”
