Biopharmaceutical company Elasmogen has secured £8m in a funding round led by BGF and the Scottish National Investment Bank, with additional support from existing investor Scottish Enterprise.
The investment should enable the Aberdeen-based business to continue developing its pipeline of next-generation drugs through pre-clinical trials.
Its soloMER technology is based on molecules naturally found in sharks’ immune systems, which are the equivalent of human antibodies, but smaller and more stable. Elasmogen’s pipeline is focused on applying this to treatments of solid-tumour cancers, systemic inflammatory diseases and inflammatory conditions of the gut.
Elasmogen’s lead programme, partnered with Almac Discovery, is a soloMER-Drug-Conjugate targeting ROR1 in solid tumour cancers This plays into the high growth class of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), a market valued at $2.4bn in 2019, which has been gaining interest as a means of developing more targeted cancer therapies.
The technology has roots in the University of Aberdeen, where it was first established as Haptogen in 2006, before being acquired by US pharmaceutical company Wyeth in 2007; and later by Pfizer.
Its co-founder and chief executive Dr Caroline Barelle led the spin-out of Elasmogen and has guided the business since its inception.
Elasmogen previously secured grant funding from Scottish Enterprise and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council in 2014 and has since raised upwards of £9m from investors, such as Deepbridge Capital, and grant funding bodies such as Innovate UK. The company has also established commercial partnerships, including those with Almac Discovery and Intract Pharma.
Following the investment, Dr Jane Dancer will be joining Elasmogen’s board as non-executive director. She brings experience in guiding commercial strategy for platform biotechnology companies from previous roles including chief business officer at F-star Biotechnology, vice president of business development at Cellzome, and director of business development at Cambridge Antibody Technology.
Barelle said: “Securing this investment is truly transformational for Elasmogen and will enable us to progress our first soloMER drugs into the clinic as well as bolster and advance our exciting product pipeline.
“With the opening of the new BioHub here in Aberdeen later this year, an initiative led by Opportunity North East, combined with this investment and the quality of our new and existing investors, the company is well positioned to make a significant impact in the therapeutic biologics arena.”
Simon Comer, investment director at the Scottish National Investment Bank, sid: “Our investment in Elasmogen’s advanced technology supports the mission to harness innovation and will promote Aberdeen as a centre for drug innovation and development.
“Elasmogen’s next-generation biologics for inflammatory, autoimmune diseases and oncology have the potential to significantly improve the health of people in Scotland as well as globally.”
Kerry Sharp, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise, added: “We’re pleased to provide Elasmogen with further backing having supported the earliest stages of its development through our High Growth Spinout Programme and helped it continue to innovate throughout the pandemic via the Early Stage Growth Challenge Fund.
“This round will allow the company to expand its clinical trials and unlock more opportunities for growth and investment.”
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