Underdog Pharmaceuticals, a key investment of Michael Greve’s rejuvenation biotech VC Kizoo, has closed a USD10 million round of capital. Kizoo led the company’s Series Seed II round, which saw participation from both existing and new investors.
Accounting for up to 40 per cent of deaths in Europe and the United States, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes are by far the world’s most life-threatening conditions. Their primary cause is atherosclerosis—the buildup of plaque in the arterial walls. Underdog’s engineered synthetic carbohydrate compound, UDP-003, is designed to target and remove toxic oxidised cholesterol, a key driver of arterial plaque accumulation. Underdog was recently awarded the Innovation Passport under the United Kingdom’s Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP). This will enable faster patient access to its groundbreaking treatment for the prevention of heart attacks and stroke. The company expects to begin clinical trials in 2023.
Mike Kope, Underdog Co-CEO, says: “The ILAP award together with the new funds will enable us to further advance to deliver a simple and affordable preventive therapy for the world”.
“We are really into this. This is the first deployment from our USD360 million commitment to fund the most promising rejuvenation startups through follow-up rounds to advance the therapies from clinical development to public availability”, says Frank Schueler, Managing Director of Kizoo Technology Capital.
