PE Tech Report

NEWSLETTER

Like this article?

Sign up to our free newsletter

NovaBiotics raises GBP5.0 million in a private placement from Woodford Investment Management

Woodford Investment Management (Woodford IM) has invested GBP5.0 million (gross) in a private placement in NovaBiotics.

“This investment validates our model and the hard work that has been done by Deborah and her team over the last 10 years. We are delighted to welcome Woodford IM as a significant investor and, together, we are aligned and excited about the next phase of development of the Company.”

The funds will provide working capital to enable NovaBiotics to achieve key value enhancing milestones in the short to mid-term. The priority for the business is driving forward the Company’s clinical stage, first-in-class antimicrobial therapeutics assets. NovaBiotics is also focused on further developing its earlier stage antifungal and antibacterial compounds and the anti-infective peptide platform from which these molecules have been derived.

The private placement with Woodford IM was arranged by Shore Capital as financial adviser and broker to the Company.

Deborah O’Neil, CEO of NovaBiotics, says: “NovaBiotics has become a leader in the anti-infectives field over the last 10 years. We have developed highly differentiated, disruptive technologies for a number of clinically unmet, economically significant indications. This development is underpinned by excellent science. Woodford IM coming on board as an investor reflects that excellence and also where the business currently is in its lifecycle.”

Bryan Bodek, NovaBiotics Chairman, adds: “This investment validates our model and the hard work that has been done by Deborah and her team over the last 10 years. We are delighted to welcome Woodford IM as a significant investor and, together, we are aligned and excited about the next phase of development of the Company.”

Antibiotic resistance is a major global problem which claims at least 50,000 lives per year in the EU and the US alone. Hundreds of thousands more will die in other areas of the world, which equates to a potential global economic burden of up to USD1 trillion by 2050. The need for new antimicrobial treatments, such as those being developed at NovaBiotics, has never been as acute.

A leading innovator in the anti-infectives space, NovaBiotics’ therapeutic candidates possess a novel mode of antimicrobial action. Their antifungal and antibacterial compounds have demonstrated superiority over many existing anti-infective drug classes thus far. Furthermore, their mechanism of action is such that the opportunity for antimicrobial resistance developing in the bacteria and fungi which NovaBiotics’ novel compounds target is minimised if not negated.

Like this article? Sign up to our free newsletter

MOST POPULAR

FURTHER READING

Featured