Imperial Innovations leads £3m PolyTherics funding round

Funding

Imperial Innovations has committed an additional £2m to portfolio company PolyTherics, as part of a £3m round to support the application of PolyTherics’ technologies to proteins and peptides for therapeutic use. Co-investors Longbow Capital and The Capital Fund also participated in the round. Following its investment, Innovations will own 35% of PolyTherics.

Many modern drugs are created from peptides and proteins, but may be unstable or cleared too quickly from the bloodstream. PolyTherics is developing ways to address these shortcomings by combining biologics with a polymer known as Polyethylene glycol (PEG). This process, known as PEGylation, stabilises drug molecules and increases their lifespan and duration of action in the body, resulting in more effective treatment and less frequent dosing.

PolyTherics has improved on current PEGylation techniques with its patented TheraPEG™ technology, already shown to be a cost effective and scalable process. Two further platforms for targeted PEGylation, HiPEG™ and CyPEG, now give the Company the ability to adapt virtually any biologic drug candidate for therapeutic use.

This investment is intended to enable PolyTherics to develop its PEGylation capabilities further and demonstrate their applicability to biologics with development potential as ‘biobetter’ products. The Company will continue to use the technology in-house and to license it out to biopharmaceutical companies.

Keith Powell, PolyTherics’ Chief Executive Officer, said, “The financial support that Innovations has given PolyTherics will enable us to realise the full commercial potential of our PEGylation technologies, both through our in-house programmes and through partnership with companies developing cost effective biopharmaceuticals.

Susan Searle, Imperial Innovations’ Chief Executive Officer, said, “PolyTherics’ PEGylation technologies have the potential to make a significant impact on drug development in many different fields of healthcare. It is this kind of technology, addressing global needs, that we regard as a high priority for the substantial funding and support we can provide.”