Denmark's mid-sized biopharma, Lundbeck, has taken another potential Parkinson's disease therapeutic into early clinical studies, the third this year, and this time it's a monoclonal antibody, not a small molecule.

The deal, worth up to $400m, will see the companies develop an early-stage alpha-synuclein antibody, a hot area of research in Parkinson's disease.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Venture Funding Deals column provides a monthly review of emerging In Vitro Diagnostic, Medical Device, and Pharmaceutical companies that have received venture funding. This month’s column covers deals announced July through August 2015.

Sanofi's and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' Praluent (alirocumab) and Amgen's Repatha (evolocumab) not only are the guinea pigs for how the FDA will handle the first proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor applications, but the drugs also are expected to be trailblazers in the marketplace for what's coming behind them – notably Pfizer's bococizumab, which is catching up fast to the two leaders.