Seed funding

HBC Immunology (a subsidiary of Hofseth BioCare) has secured seed capital financing of approximately $900,000 from external investors to commence preclinical animal trials with its patented peptides, FT-002 and FT-005. These are analogues of peptides discovered by HBC in ProGo bioactive peptides, which modulate iron metabolism and have Qualified Health claims granted for this mode […]

SMi Systems has disclosed a £6m ($7.6m) seed funding round to develop and prove the utility of its multi-omic platform for in vitro diagnosis and biomedical research. SMi hopes the technology will significantly accelerate the discovery of new therapeutics by biopharma companies and research institutions. The company has also hired a new Chief Development Officer […]

It’s not easy being the new kid on the block. DDW’s Diana Spencer speaks to the CEOs of two drug discovery start-ups to find out how they have overcome the challenges of launching a new company in a competitive market. It’s a challenging time to launch a new company in the life sciences sector. High […]

Anoat Therapeutics, a preclinical stage biotechnology company specialised in Cystic Fibrosis (CF), has raised €2m ($2.17m) in seed funding from AdBio partners, a venture capital company specialised in seed investments in life sciences startups.   This investment from the AFB FII fund stems from the AdBio-Inserm Transfert partnership announced in May 2022 to finance, support and […]

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates.  The theme of DDW’s news review this week is money. Although Clarivate has reported a recent drop in investment in the industry, it […]

News round-up for 22-26 May by DDW Digital Content Editor Diana Spencer. The theme of our news review this week is money. Although Clarivate has reported a recent drop in investment in the industry, it is good to see companies raising money through funding rounds and investing in new facilities, as well as government support […]

Danish start-up InProTher has raised €6 million seed funding from private investors, with participation from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund. The financing will enable InProTher to advance its lead drug candidate, IPT001, a first-in-class immunotherapy against solid tumours, into clinical development. Incubated at the BioInnovation Institute (BII) and seeded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, […]

New South African company NewBiologix has launched with the aim of developing a proprietary and breakthrough platform for the advanced engineering of cell lines used to manufacture gene and cell therapies. The company’s DNA-based platform is being developed to address manufacturing challenges associated with the production of recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors used to produce […]

AI drug discovery company MultiOmic Health has closed a £5 million ($6.2 million) seed funding extension round to build a precision therapeutics discovery platform for metabolic syndrome-related medical conditions. The round was led by London-based Hoxton Ventures, with participation from Ada Ventures, MMC Ventures and Verve Ventures. Since beginning operations in May 2021, MultiOmic has […]

Adcendo, a biotech company focused on the development of breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancers with a high unmet medical need, has completed a successful Series A extension financing round, raising a further €31 million, following the €51 million Series A financing in April 2021.   Adcendo’s lead ADC asset, uPARAP, is […]

Teitur Trophics, a biotech company developing new treatments for patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, has complete a €28M Series A financing.   The financing was co-led by Sunstone Life Science Ventures and Sound Bioventures, with participation from new investors, Industrifonden, Innovestor’s Life Science Fund and P53 Invest. The proceeds will enable Teitur to progress its lead […]

Five Alarm Bio (FAB) has completed a seed investment round, raising over £500K ($605K). The funding will drive proprietary research into novel compounds that extend healthy lifespan of cells and tissues, with therapeutic potential across a broad range of age-related diseases. Investors include Cambridge Angels, Meltwind, o2h Ventures, and SyndicateRoom, as well as other Angel […]

Investment in UK biotech has fallen from £4.5 billion in 2021 to just £1.8 billion in 2022, mirroring the global economic downturn impacting all sectors.  However, venture capital investment in the sector was the third-best year recorded for the UK, with £1.2 billion raised, new analysis from the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Clarivate shows.   […]

Myosana Therapeutics has completed a seed funding round totalling over $5 million led by investor John Ballantyne.  The capital will go towards developing Myosana’s gene therapy platform for neuromuscular and cardiac disease, with the goal of identifying the first development candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy by 2025.  “Built on decades of expertise in neuromuscular diseases, […]

Juvena Therapeutics, a biotechnology company scaling a computational platform to map the therapeutic potential of secreted proteins, has raised $41 million in an oversubscribed Series A, bringing its total funding to $50 million. The new funding will power the expansion of Juvena’s drug discovery platform and advance the company’s biologics pipeline targeting chronic and age-related […]

After a disappointing start to the year, the last few months have seen a boost to fundraising for UK biotech companies. DDW’s Diana Spencer unpacks the Q3 figures and annual predictions from the BioIndustry Association1.  While 2021 was the highest year on record for investments into UK biotech and life sciences companies, it looks unlikely […]