A small team in Liège, Belgium, is attempting what might sound improbable in the crowded field of neurodegeneration: attacking three different toxic protein aggregates with a single drug.
Amyl Therapeutics announced September 1, 2026, that it raised €8.25 million (roughly $9.4 million) in a Series A extension, bringing its total capital since inception to €27.85 million. The round drew participation from unnamed family offices, business angels, and existing backers Noshaq and Mérieux Equity Partners, according to company filings. The financing splits between €3.85 million in equity and €4.4 million in non-dilutive grants from the Walloon Region, per THM Capital Advisory, which advised on the deal.
Eight employees at the company's LegiaPark headquarters are now racing to finalize a clinical candidate that targets beta-amyloid, tau, and alpha-synuclein simultaneously. The approach represents a departure from recent FDA-approved Alzheimer's drugs like Leqembi and Kisunla, which zero in on beta-amyloid alone and carry boxed warnings for brain swelling and bleeding known as ARIA (amyloid-related imaging abnormalities).
The company claims its fusion protein binds to a cross-beta sheet structure shared by all three amyloid aggregates. The construct merges a bacteriophage-derived domain with a human antibody Fc region to encourage immune cells to clear the misfolded proteins. An engineered "brain shuttle" module is designed to ferry the molecule across the blood-brain barrier, a persistent obstacle in neurological drug development.
"Our results already demonstrate that our fusion protein combines the therapeutic strengths of three monoclonal antibodies while addressing many key limitations," co-founder and CEO Pierre Vandepapelière said in the company's statement. Whether those preclinical results translate to human efficacy remains an open question. The company has yet to nominate a final clinical candidate.
Fresh capital will fund good manufacturing practice production of that candidate and generate the remaining preclinical efficacy and safety data required for regulatory filings. Amyl also plans to expand its Liège laboratories and double the size of its research team, though it declined to specify target headcount. One family office investor will join the board, but the company would not disclose the name.
Vandepapelière led Belgian immunotherapy firm Imcyse from 2014 to 2019 and held positions at GSK and Neovacs before launching Amyl in March 2021. Co-founder Florent Gros, who chairs the board, previously invested for Novartis Venture Fund and founded Priothera. The board also includes Valérie Calenda of Mérieux Equity Partners, Hélène Sabatel of Noshaq, and Kenneth A. Buckfire, president of Miller Buckfire & Co.
The competitive landscape is getting denser. Attralus is pursuing a pan-amyloid peptide-Fc fusion platform that likewise targets beta-amyloid, tau, and alpha-synuclein across both systemic and neurodegenerative conditions. AC Immune runs separate programs addressing the same three proteins through active immunotherapies and antibodies. Prothena has advanced a dual beta-amyloid and tau vaccine in preclinical work while separately partnering with Roche on alpha-synuclein programs.
Amyl has layered its financing over multiple rounds and grant cycles since inception. The initial €18.3 million Series A closed in June 2021, comprising €8.6 million in equity from Noshaq and €9.7 million in non-dilutive Walloon Region funding, per a PR Newswire announcement at the time. In November 2023, the company added €5 million in equity from Mérieux, Noshaq, and new investor Evren Ucok, plus €6.1 million in grants, European Biotechnology Magazine reported. Between 2024 and 2025, another €3.8 million in regional support arrived, the September press release noted.
The stakes are considerable. Dementia afflicts an estimated 57 million people globally, with projections climbing to 139 million by 2050, according to World Health Organization data. Alzheimer's disease accounts for the majority of those cases.
"We have continued to invest in Amyl Therapeutics because its platform has the potential to redefine how neurodegenerative diseases are treated," Calenda said in the statement. The company has indicated it aims to select a clinical candidate by late 2026 and initiate first-in-human trials in early 2028, though such timelines in biotech have a tendency to shift.
For now, Amyl remains firmly in the preclinical phase, a stage where promise often collides with the messy realities of human biology. Whether its multi-target bet pays off will depend on data that has yet to be generated, let alone scrutinized by regulators or independent researchers.
