Vigil Neuroscience

01 / WHAT IT BUILT

What the company did

Vigil Neuroscience Inc. (NASDAQ: VIGL) was a Watertown, Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Led by president and CEO Ivana Magovcevic-Liebisch, its pipeline centered on TREM2, a receptor on microglia (the brain's immune cells): the oral small-molecule TREM2 agonist VG-3927 for Alzheimer's disease, which completed Phase 1 in 115 healthy volunteers with no serious adverse events and was headed for Phase 2, and the human monoclonal antibody VGL101 targeting TREM2 for ALSP, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disease. The company had raised about $180 million in funding.

03 / EVENT HISTORY

Events in the structured record

1. 2024
   Clinical development

   Vigil advanced its TREM2 programs: VG-3927 completed a Phase 1 study in 115 healthy volunteers and Alzheimer's patients, showing safety, CNS penetration and target engagement; VGL101 was in Phase 2 for ALSP.

2. 2024
   Sanofi investment

   Sanofi invested $40 million in Vigil and secured an exclusive right of first negotiation on licensing Vigil's TREM2 small-molecule platform.

3. 2025
   Acquired by Sanofi

   Sanofi agreed to acquire Vigil for $8 per share in cash (about $470 million on a fully diluted basis), plus a non-tradeable contingent value right of $2 per share payable on the first commercial sale of VG-3927 — a nearly 250% premium. The acquisition completed on August 6, 2025; VGL101 rights were returned to Amgen, and Vigil's shares were delisted from Nasdaq.