- Phase 3 ARISE trial of solengepras, a potential first-in-class non-dopaminergic therapy, is fully enrolled and topline data is expected later this year
- Pivotal study targets daily OFF periods, a debilitating unmet need affecting millions of people living with Parkinson’s disease worldwide
- $20 million Series C financing extends cash runway into mid-2027 and provides funding through topline readout
Boston – MAY 12, 2026 – Cerevance, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing targeted therapies for neurodegenerative diseases and obesity, today announced completion of patient enrollment in the pivotal Phase 3 ARISE trial evaluating solengepras in Parkinson’s disease and the closing of a $20 million Series C financing round. The ARISE trial enrolled XX patients across the United States, Europe, United Kingdom, and Australia, and is assessing solengepras as an adjunctive therapy to levodopa and other standard-of-care Parkinson’s medications in patients who experience motor fluctuations, including daily OFF periods. Proceeds from the Series C financing are expected to fund the company's operations into mid-2027, supporting the completion of the ARISE trial and continued advancement of Cerevance's pipeline.
Solengepras is a potential first-in-class, once-daily oral therapy that works through a fundamentally different mechanism than existing Parkinson’s treatments. By targeting the GPR6 receptor rather than the dopamine system, solengepras is designed to reduce OFF periods, the hours each day when symptoms recur despite medication. This approach has the potential to markedly reduce the incidence and severity of side effects typically associated with dopaminergic therapies.
"This is a critical moment for Cerevance," said Craig Thompson, chief executive officer of Cerevance. "In our Phase 2 trial, solengepras demonstrated reduced OFF time and a favorable tolerability profile. With ARISE fully enrolled and our Series C secured, we are funded through topline data and well positioned to deliver what could be the first non-dopaminergic therapy to reach patients in decades. We expect to report results later this year."
"More than 10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson’s disease, and motor fluctuations remain one of the most persistent and disruptive challenges in disease management, with current therapies leaving a substantial gap in care," said Stuart H. Isaacson, MD, director of the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center of Boca Raton and principal investigator of the ARISE trial. "The ARISE trial is designed to rigorously evaluate solengepras' impact on OFF time in patients receiving standard-of-care therapy, and we look forward to seeing the data later this year."
About Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by both motor symptoms—such as tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia/akinesia—as well as non-motor symptoms such as mood changes, apathy, and cognitive deficits. Parkinson’s disease is the fastest growing neurological disorder globally, affecting more than 10 million people worldwide and approximately 1 million people in the United States. The current standard of care relies primarily on dopaminergic therapies such as levodopa, which tend to lose effectiveness over time and are associated with side effects—including motor fluctuations and dyskinesias—that create increasingly difficult risk-benefit tradeoffs for patients.
About Solengepras (CVN424)
Solengepras is designed to provide a potentially novel approach to treating Parkinson’s disease. Unlike dopaminergic therapies, which act primarily by replenishing, enhancing, or mimicking dopamine, solengepras selectively targets the indirect pathway by inhibiting the GPR6 receptor. This mechanism aims to restore both motor and non-motor function without directly altering dopamine levels or signaling, potentially improving the balance between the direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways and reducing the risk of side effects such as dyskinesias and motor fluctuations that are commonly associated with dopaminergic therapies. Solengepras is being evaluated as a once-daily, oral adjunctive therapy to levodopa and other anti-Parkinsonian medications in the Phase 3 ARISE trial.
About the Phase 3 Pivotal ARISE Trial
The multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 ARISE trial is evaluating the efficacy and safety of solengepras as an adjunctive therapy to levodopa and other background Parkinson’s disease medications. The trial enrolled XX patients with Parkinson’s disease age 30 and older with motor fluctuations who have an average of three or more hours of total OFF time per day. Study participants were randomized to solengepras 75 mg or 150 mg or placebo once daily for 12 weeks. The primary endpoint is the change from baseline to week 12 in average daily OFF time for solengepras 150 mg versus placebo. Secondary objectives include assessing safety and tolerability and further characterizing the effect of solengepras on other motor symptoms (e.g., ON time), non-motor symptoms (e.g., daytime sleepiness), cognitive function, and several quality-of-life measures (e.g., Movement Disorder Society-UPDRS, PD Questionnaire 39, Clinical Global Impression scale, Patient Global Impression scale). ARISE was conducted globally at sites in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
About Cerevance
Cerevance is focused on advancing cell type-specific therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and obesity. Our proprietary platform, Nuclear Enriched Transcript Sort sequencing (NETSseq), enables identification of potential drug targets from human brain samples expressed in specific cell types, including those at very low levels or within rare cell populations, and whose expression may change as a disease progresses. Our most advanced investigational treatment, solengepras, is currently in Phase 3 development and has the potential to be a first-in-class, oral non-dopaminergic therapy for both motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Our second investigational treatment, CVN293, is a highly selective investigational oral inhibitor targeting THIK1 (KCNK13), a two-pore potassium channel family member. CVN293 represents a potentially novel intervention point for neurodegenerative disorders and obesity.
For more information, please visit www.cerevance.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.
Contacts
Cerevance:
Johnna Simoes, ir@cerevance.com
Media
April Dovorany, adovorany@realchemistry.com, +1-262-909-8739
