Prothena Corporation is an American biotechnology company headquartered in South San Francisco, California, focused on the development of novel protein immunotherapy for the treatment of various diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and amyloidosis.
| Attribute | Details |
|-----------|---------|
| Ticker | NASDAQ: PRTA |
| Headquarters | South San Francisco, California, USA |
| Founded | 2005 (as a spinout from Elan) |
| CEO | Hideki (Gene) |
| Employees | ~100 |
| Market Cap | ~$600 million (2024) |
| Drug |
Mechanism |
Phase |
Indication |
| Prasinezumab |
Anti-alpha-synuclein mAb |
Phase 2 |
Parkinson's disease (with AD) |
| PRX012 |
Anti-amyloid beta mAb |
Phase 1 |
Alzheimer's disease |
| PRX031 |
- |
Discovery |
Alzheimer's disease |
- Mechanism: Monoclonal antibody targeting alpha-synuclein
- Target: Alpha-synuclein (precursor protein)
- Phase: Phase 2 (PASADENA study completed, SPARK)
- Partner: Roche (global development and commercialization)
- Clinical Trials: PASADENA, SPARK
- Results: Did not meet primary endpoint in PASADENA but showed slowing of motor progression
- Mechanism: Anti-amyloid beta monoclonal antibody
- Target: Amyloid-beta plaques
- Phase: Phase 1 (completed)
- Status: Advanced to Phase 2 planning
| Drug |
Mechanism |
Phase |
Indication |
| Prasinezumab |
Anti-alpha-synuclein mAb |
Phase 2 |
PD |
| PRX005 |
Anti-tau mAb |
Phase 1 |
PD |
| Degrasppoon Program |
CDR-based protein degrader |
Discovery |
PD |
Prothena is developing a novel protein degradation platform based on CDR-derived degrasppoons. These are designed to selectively recruit disease-causing proteins to the proteasome for degradation. This approach offers potential advantages over traditional antibodies by intracellularly degrading targets rather than just neutralizing them.
Approach:
- Uses complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) from antibodies as targeting modules
- Fuses CDRs to E3 ligase recruitment domains
- Achieves targeted protein degradation of pathological species
- Potential for tau, alpha-synuclein, and other targets
- Rationale: Alpha-synuclein is a key protein in PD pathogenesis; antibodies may prevent spreading of pathological forms
- Key Trials: SPARK (Phase 2, ongoing)
- Mechanism: Anti-tau monoclonal antibody
- Target: Tau protein
- Phase: Phase 1
- Rationale: Target tau pathology in Parkinson's disease
| Drug |
Mechanism |
Phase |
Indication |
| BIRZRA |
Anti-amyloid mAb |
Phase 1 |
AL amyloidosis |
- Mechanism: Monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid deposits
- Target: Amyloid fibrils
- Phase: Phase 1
- Scope: Global development and commercialization of prasinezumab
- Structure: Roche leads clinical development and commercialization; Prothena receives milestones and royalties
- Deal Value: $600M+ in milestones
- Scope: Protein degradation platform (formerly)
- Status: Terminated (2023)
| Year |
Revenue |
Cash |
Key Programs |
| 2023 |
$45M |
$400M |
Prasinezumab, PRX012 |
| 2022 |
$30M |
$420M |
Prasinezumab |
| 2021 |
$25M |
$450M |
Prasinezumab |
- Hideki (Gene) - CEO
- Wagner - Chief Medical Officer
- Diskin - Co-founder
¶ Funding and Financial History
- IPO: December 2012 (NASDAQ: PRTA)
- Raised approximately $60 million in initial public offering
- Originally spun out from Elan Corporation
- 2013: Entered into collaboration with Roche for prasinezumab (PRX002)
- 2018: Bristol-Myers Squibb acquired Elan's stake in Prothena
- 2019: Sold remaining amyloid programs to Novo Nordisk ($50 million)
- 2020: Acquired certain assets from Onclave Therapeutics
- Roche: Global development and commercialization agreement for prasinezumab
- Deal value: $60 million upfront + $600 million in milestones
- Elan/Proteon: Original founding partnership and continued R&D support
-
Focused on protein immunotherapy for neurodegenerative diseases and amyloidosis
-
Novel antibody platforms (RAP and TAB) for targeting misfolded proteins
-
Pipeline spans AD, PD, and ATTR amyloidosis
-
Alzheimer's Disease — Alzheimer's drug development
-
Parkinson's Disease — Parkinson's drug development
-
Amyloid Cascade Hypothesis — Amyloid-targeting therapies
-
Tau Pathology — Tau-targeting therapies
-
Clinical Trials Overview — Clinical trial portfolio