Antoxis Investment
TRI Cap joins funding for ground-breaking pharmaceutical business
Borders-based angel syndicate, Tweed Renaissance Investors Capital (TRI CAP) has invested a substantial five-figure sum in ground-breaking pharmaceutical business Antoxis Ltd as part of the company’s first funding round which attracted more than £¼ million from a range of sources.
Aberdeen-based Antoxis, a spin-out from Rowett Research Institute and Glasgow University, is developing treatments for various neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and stroke. With initial support of the Genomia Fund in 2006, Antoxis has developed a number of compounds which are anticipated to make a substantial impact on a market where the demand is set to increase exponentially, but existing therapies are extremely limited.
“For such a young and early stage company, Antoxis has built a strong reputation in its field and is widely predicted to make a huge impact on a market which, as a result of demographic changes, is set to expand rapidly in coming years,” says TRI Cap chairman Robert Dick. “TRI Cap members have joined with a number of investors, led by Fife based Kapital Venture Equity and matched with support from Scottish Enterprise’s Scottish Co-Investment Fund and a SMART award, to provide funding which will enable Antoxis to validate its products further while strengthening its intellectual property rights.”
Scott Johnstone, CEO of Antoxis, welcomed both the financial backing and the substantial experience of the investment team:
“As a business we are at a relatively early stage in our development: we have a long way to go in terms of our products and generating the partnerships that will deliver value for all involved. Our focus, having secured this funding, is to deliver on our intellectual property and take our compounds to the next stage in their development. I am sure that the extensive experience of our investors’ team, led by Nelson Gray, combined with the support of Scottish Enterprise will play a significant part in the company’s future success.”
The drugs being developed by Antoxis target free radicals, a class of highly-reactive molecules that can cause severe damage to biomolecules and cells. Under normal physiological conditions free radicals are continually produced at low level in our systems. However, there is substantial evidence that, in a number of clinical conditions, abnormally-high levels of free radicals are generated, which overwhelm our body’s natural defences. The resultant damage can contribute significantly to the advance of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and the impact of strokes. By targeting free radicals, the drugs under development seek to impair the progress of the disease.
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