Beckley Psytech, a private company dedicated to addressing neurological and psychiatric disorders through psychedelic medicine, has received Clinical Trial Authorisation (CTA) from the UK Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to explore the effects of psychedelic agent psilocybin for treating short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks (SUNHA), a rare and debilitating headache condition.

A Warwickshire-based manufacturer of fertility monitoring products, Fertility Focus, has secured further investment from MEIF through a £250,000 loan, enabling it to invest in its staff, continue research and development, while safeguarding against the impact of COVID-19.

A group of successful Bristol-based entrepreneurs has invested £192,500 into a research and development project in the city that is searching for faster diagnosis and treatment of Sepsis, which is the number one cause of death worldwide.  Sixteen members of Bristol Private Equity Club have backed GenomeKey, which is carrying out the pioneering research programme in Bristol. The investment will enable GenomeKey to leverage additional grant funding.

Birmingham-based tele-optometry manufacturer Eyoto,has secured funding from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) WM Equity Finance Fund, managed by venture capital firm Midven as part of a £2.5M funding round. Other investors in the round included Mercia Asset Management, the Future Fund and a group of angel investors.

Buy and build Investment group Tristone Capital, through its care division Tristone Healthcare, has acquired North Wales-based care business, ProCare (Wales) Limited.  

Liva Healthcare, a European market leader in scalable digital health coaching, has secured a new funding round of EUR 24.5 million, led by Verlinvest, the go-to investor for mission-driven entrepreneurs and category-defining global consumer brands. The investment will enable Liva to strengthen its position as a European leader in digital health and lifestyle coaching for chronic disease prevention and management.   

Peptone, the computational physics company, has built the world’s first protein engineering operating system and, thanks to $2.5 million seed round led by Hoxton Ventures and supported by dRx Capital, a venture arm of Novartis Pharma AG, Founders Factory and a number of angel investors including Brent Hoberman, the next-gen supercomputing company is now looking to further develop its groundbreaking technology in order to take on the high-value protein targets and reduce the risk of failure in early stages of drug development.

Angelini Pharma, an international pharmaceutical company which is a part of the private Italian Angelini Group – and Arvelle Therapeutics, a Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company focused on bringing innovative treatments to patients suffering from CNS disorders, has announced that they have concluded a definitive merger agreement under which Angelini Pharma will acquire Arvelle Therapeutics in an all cash transaction for a total aggregate valuation of up to $960 million. Following regulatory approval, $610M will be paid.  Subsequently, and subject to cenobamate reaching certain revenue targets, a further $350M will be paid.

The Zero Carbon Fund has made an investment in the pre-seed funding round of Phycobloom, a UK-based bio-technology company engineering algae that will enable cheap, carbon-neutral biofuels that can power future air travel and more.

OKKO Health, a digital eye care company, has received investment from seven Henley Business Angels (HBA) members, contributing towards a total funding round of £900,000. The amount invested by HBA members was £145k, making it the largest amount invested since HBA’s establishment in 2016.

Innovative Scottish-based drug delivery company, Bio-Images Drug Delivery Limited (BDD), has positioned itself for rapid growth with a further round of investment in its GMP* manufacturing capabilities alongside strategic recruitment to the senior leadership team and the Board of Directors.  The £1.2m investment, has been led by Edinburgh-based business angel investment syndicate, Archangels, supported by Scottish Enterprise and BioCity Investments. 

Alderley Park-based proteomic-data science and diagnostics company, Kinomica, has secured £3.9 million in funding for pioneering technology