William Blair initiated research coverage of Vigil Neuroscience, Inc. (VIGL $2.47), a clinical-stage biopharma focused on developing microglial-targeting therapeutics by leveraging genetic insights into degenerative disorders of the central nervous system (CNS).
Analyst Sarah Schram said, “Vigil is developing a unique TREM2-targeting therapeutics pipeline to treat both rare and highly prevalent degenerative disorders. TREM2 has been identified through human genetics and validated in preclinical mechanistic studies as a key regulator of microglial activation and function. Microglia serve as the immune cells of the CNS, and dysregulation has been identified as a key pathology driver in numerous diseases, including ALSP and Alzheimer’s disease (AD).”
She added, “Lead asset iluzanebart is being tested in the Phase IIb Ignite study in ALSP patients; full data are expected mid-2025. Iluzanebart is a TREM2-agonizing antibody that acts to compensate through common downstream signaling cascades for loss-of-function in CSF1R signaling, the key driver of ALSP pathology. ALSP is linked to numerous neurological deficits including cognitive decline, with results from a natural history study showing correlation between brain volume changes and cognitive loss. Interim Ignite data, while significantly, showed encouraging trends; full data from the study will be reported in mid-2025. The FDA indicated that it is open to an accelerated approval pathway pending additional data and we see blockbuster revenue potential if ultimately approved, as iluzanebart is the only potential treatment in clinical-stage testing.”
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