The European Investment Bank has signed a €30 million convertible loan agreement with Amsterdam-based VectorY Therapeutics to support its work on experimental treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
The loan, backed by the European Union’s InvestEU programme, forms part of a wider €74.5 million financing package announced by the company. VectorY says the funding will help advance its leading programme for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, through clinical milestones including the final readout of an early-stage trial.
The agreement is a financing development, not evidence that the experimental treatment works. The candidate, called VTx-002, is being investigated in a Phase 1/2 study and has not been approved by a regulatory authority.
Financing for a wider pipeline
The bank said it had signed the convertible loan with VectorY as part of a financing syndicate involving new investors and existing shareholders. A convertible loan is a form of debt that may be converted into an ownership stake under agreed conditions. The announcement did not disclose the conversion terms or a timetable for drawing down the funding.
The €30 million is included in, rather than additional to, the €74.5 million package. New backers identified by VectorY include Angelini Ventures and Invest-NL, alongside the bank. Existing investors are also taking part. The company said the proceeds would support other programmes as well as VTx-002.
InvestEU uses an EU budget guarantee to support investment through implementing partners. The bank described the loan as backing the development of the company’s platform and its pipeline of potential treatments. Signing an agreement does not itself establish how quickly the money will be spent or whether the research will succeed.
How the experimental approach is intended to work
VectorY is developing what it calls vectorised antibodies. Instead of giving an antibody directly through repeated administrations, the approach uses a delivery vehicle to carry genetic instructions into target cells. The intention is for cells in the central nervous system to produce the engineered antibody themselves.
VTx-002 is designed to target abnormal forms of a protein called TDP-43, which are associated with ALS. The aim is sustained, local production of the antibody after a single administration. Whether the approach will be safe and provide a meaningful clinical benefit remains to be established in people.
ALS is the most common type of motor neurone disease. It affects the nerve cells that control muscles and can lead to increasing difficulty with movement, speaking, swallowing and breathing. Symptoms and the pace of progression vary between individuals.
There is currently no cure for motor neurone disease. Existing care can help manage symptoms and support daily life, while some medicines can slow progression for certain patients. The investigational programme should not be confused with a treatment already available for routine care.
What the trial is testing
The PIONEER-ALS study is an open-label, first-in-human trial assessing two dose levels of VTx-002 in adults with ALS. In an open-label study, participants and researchers know which treatment is being given. The study is not designed with a separate untreated or placebo control group.
Researchers are examining safety and tolerability, alongside measures of how the treatment behaves in the body and exploratory signs of its effects. The study also includes measures of disease progression, muscle strength and breathing, as well as biological markers. These observations can inform further research but do not, on their own, guarantee that a therapy will prove effective.
The first participant received a dose in February 2026. In September, VectorY announced that it was expanding the planned study from 12 to 36 participants; the expansion was announced before patient efficacy data were available. The revised figure is a recruitment target, not a statement that 36 people have completed treatment.
The company said the new financing would help take VTx-002 through the study’s final readout. It also plans to advance VTx-003, an earlier-stage programme for Huntington’s disease, and other programmes targeting frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Those programmes are separate from the ALS trial and remain in development.
