NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund has invested £750,000 in Blueberry Therapeutics Limited, a drug discovery and development company focused on developing innovative nanomedicines for difficult to treat skin and nail infections. The funding will support the business as it embarks on the next set of clinical trials for a new topical antifungal spray for the treatment of onychomycosis using its unique nanodelivery platform technology, as well as progressing other product development lines.

Iksuda Therapeutics, the developer of a new generation of antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) with raised therapeutic index, has completed a US $47 million (circa GB £34 million) financing round, co-led by Mirae Asset Capital and its subsidiaries, Celltrion and Premier Partners, with the Company being advised by Ashfords LLP. The funding will support the advancement of Iksuda’s lead ADC assets and expansion of its payload and conjugation platform technologies.

Atos and Huma, the digital health innovator, have announced a 5-year strategic global partnership to shift healthcare and clinical trials from hospital to home. The partnership will focus on Huma’s modular platform which can power digital ‘hospitals at home’ up to national scale, as well as support pharmaceutical and research industries to run complex global decentralized clinical trials. The platform is already used in the US and across Europe for illnesses ranging from atrial fibrillation to diabetes to Covid-19.

NEO KUMA Ventures, the UK’s first investment fund dedicated solely to psychedelic healthcare, has announced its investment in seven innovative healthcare companies.  The initial investments have proved successful with three of the seven companies going public this year, yielding between +180% and +680% return on initial investment.

The Riverside Company, a global private investor focused on the smaller end of the middle market, has signed a definitive agreement to sell Greenphire, the global leader in financial lifecycle management software for clinical trials, to Thoma Bravo, a software focused private equity firm. 

Keensight Capital, one of the principal private equity managers dedicated to pan-European Growth Buyout1 investments, has reached an agreement to invest alongside management in Symeres, a leading European drug discovery Contract Research Organization (CRO) and Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO). According to the terms of the agreement, Keensight Capital will acquire a majority stake in Symeres from the Gilde Healthcare Private Equity fund, a leading European specialist healthcare investor.

ICAS World Ltd (ICAS), a leading global provider of mental health and employee wellness services has acquired the NHS-commissioned mental health tech startup, Hello Tomo. 

London-based soft prosthetics company, Koalaa, is celebrating after securing investment from British Design Fund (BDF), to help bring its innovative prosthetics to children and adults across the UK and beyond.

Cambridge based biotechnology company, Phico Therapeutics, has announced it has received £7 million in funding from a consortium of investors.  BGF, the UK and Ireland’s most active growth capital investor, led the round with a £3 million investment, while a further £4 million was received from existing backers.  Founded in 2000 by Dr Heather Fairhead, Phico is developing a biotechnology platform for a new generation of antibiotics to overcome antibacterial resistance. 

Mogrify Limited, a biopharmaceutical company aiming to transform the development of ex vivo cell therapies and pioneer a new class of in vivo reprogramming therapies, has completed the second closing of its Series A financing of $17 million USD, bringing the total raised to $33 million USD in this round. 

Botanical Holdings, the investment holding company focusing on the legal medicinal cannabis industry, comfirms that its Portuguese subsidiary, CECO Wellness (part of the EuroCan division) will receive grant funding of up to €4.3 million ($5.2 million) from the Portugal 2020 Fund. This fund is a partnership between the Portuguese government and the European Commission.

University of Birmingham spinout ChromaTwist Ltd has secured £300k of seed funding to develop a new class of fluorescent materials for use in bio-sensing and bio-imaging tests for diseases such as cancer and diabetes.