Denali Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing a broad portfolio of product candidates engineered to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and lysosomal storage diseases, entered into a securities purchase agreement with certain existing accredited investors to issue and sell shares of its common stock. Denali anticipates the gross proceeds to be approximately $500 million. 
 
Proceeds from the financing are expected to be used to support Denali’s ongoing R&D activities, the acceleration and expansion of its BBB-crossing Transport Vehicle (TV) technology, as well as general corporate purposes and working capital.
 
The financing was led by a U.S.-based healthcare-focused investor, with participation from global asset managers based in Boston and on the West Coast.
 
“Earlier this year, we announced that our future therapeutic portfolio will focus on large molecule biotherapeutics designed to cross the blood-brain barrier using our Transport Vehicle technology,” said Ryan Watts, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Denali Therapeutics. “The investment we are announcing today reflects the depth and breadth of our current clinical portfolio and the promise of the Transport Vehicle technology to transform the treatment of neurodegenerative and lysosomal storage diseases. We are thrilled to partner with key shareholders to be able to accelerate and expand our portfolio as we work towards a future without degeneration.”