A University of Nottingham spin-out which has developed a rapid test that could be a ‘game changer’ in combatting tuberculosis (TB) in livestock has secured a £2.3m investment to help bring its product to market.  The funding for PBD Biotech has come from a consortium led by fund managers Mercia and the Foresight Group, which were both investing through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF); the University of Nottingham; the government’s Future Fund; and private investors including farmers and veterinary practices. 

Caristo Diagnostics, the medical imaging company, has completed a multi-million-pound investment round. The round was led by BGF, the UK’s most active growth economy investor, and existing investors including Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), Longwall Ventures and the Oxford Technology & Innovation Fund (OTIF).

The funding will be used to roll-out Caristo Diagnostic’s CaRi-Heart^®, a ground-breaking AI-based cardiovascular risk prediction technology, which has just received its CE mark accreditation and is available for use by doctors across the UK and Europe.

PhoreMost Ltd., the UK-based biopharmaceutical company dedicated to ‘Drugging the Undruggable^®, disease targets, has completed an oversubscribed £33m ($46m) Series B investment round. The round was led by BGF, the UK’s most active growth economy investor, and included new investors XtalPi Inc., Astellas Venture Management, Trend Investment Group and o2h ventures. Existing investors Parkwalk Advisors, Morningside Ventures, and Jonathan Milner also contributed.

Oxford Medical Products (OMP) has raised £1.2M in seed investment to develop a safe and affordable weight loss capsule, which uses the same mechanism of action as a gastric balloon, but can be taken at home. The funding will be used to complete pre-clinical testing, upscale and outsource manufacturing and grow the team. The funding was led by Ada Ventures with Selvedge Venture alongside several angel investors including Dr Nick Edwards, a founder of the company, and Dr Jan Hruska, co-founder of Sophos.

Biomedical startup Adapttech has raised £2 million in a new venture capital funding round. The round was supported by existing investors including the MEIF Proof of Concept & Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia and part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund;  Bionova Capital (formerly Hovione Capital), as well as new investors including ACF Investors, Wealth Club and Wren Capital.

CareLineLive, the all-in-one home care management software that increases efficiency, capacity, compliance and communication of both managers and carers by digitising their work flows, has announced that it has secured a £175k grant from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.

Albion Capital has made a successful exit from its investment in three high-end care homes managed by Berkley Care Group, the boutique care home operator. The care homes with a total of 201 beds have been sold to Korian SA, the leading European care services group for elderly and fragile people, for an undisclosed sum.

Andrew Aldridge, Partner at Deepbridge Capital, discusses why the life sciences sector is now back in favour with investors.

The past twelve months have showcased the importance of medical developments like never before. Innovation in the life sciences sector has been headline news around the globe and all aspects of the healthcare system have been under the microscope. Not only the direct response to the global pandemic, with vaccinations and treatments, but also the importance of mental health, the care home profession, screening programmes and telemedicine, have had the spotlight shone on them. 

Small Pharma Ltd and Unilock Capital Corp. have announced the closing of the brokered private placement of subscription receipts of Small Pharma Financing Inc., a special purpose British Columbia company incorporated solely for the purpose of the Financing, at a price of CAD$0.96 per Subscription Receipt for aggregate gross proceeds of CAD$58,000,000, with substantial U.S., UK and Canadian institutional investor support, including significant participation from leading biotech funds.

Diamond Whites Aligners, the rapidly growing at-home teeth aligner business, has raised £550,000 in Pre-Series A funding from Moscar Capital L.P., valuing the company at £6.875 million. The funds will be used to support Diamond Whites Aligner’s growth strategy, having recently announced the opening of its London headquarters and plans to double its employee headcount by H2 2021.

QVentures is thrilled to welcome Congenica, one of Britain’s fastest-growing genomics companies, into their portfolio.

QVentures was engaged by Congenica to broaden access to its Series C funding round to Family Offices and sophisticated high net worth individuals. The QVentures investment followed the initial close of the round in November 2020, which raised US$50m/£39m and was led by Legal & General and Tencent, alongside investors such as Parkwalk, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Downing, Xeraya, Puhua Capital, and IDO Investments.

eXmoor, the expert cell and gene therapy (CGT) services company, has raised an initial investment of £12m ($17m) from specialist healthcare investment firm MVM Partners to enable eXmoor’s ambitious expansion plans. This will create a new dedicated 50,000 sq ft CGT process development and clinical manufacturing facility in Bristol (UK). eXmoor has expanded rapidly over the last 5 years, developing a portfolio of clients across the UK and internationally, completing over 400 projects across 15 countries to date.