Vectura Ltd. receives £1.75 million from the Merlin Fund LP, the dedicated bioscience venture capital fund
24 Feb 1999
Vectura Ltd. receives £1.75 million from the Merlin Fund LP, the dedicated bioscience venture capital fund
Vectura Limited, is a new company specialising in the delivery of drugs and other medicines with narrow therapeutic margins and high site-specificities. Headquartered in Cambridge, England, it was founded in late 1997 by David Gough and Merlin Ventures Ltd. (Merlin) who supplied seed finance.
Vectura has an integrated platform or proprietary technology which has been licensed from other companies and leading UK universities and with whom it has signed development agreements. These technologies comprise certain advanced lipid and soluble polymer based carriers which can be used to deliver drugs preferentially to their site of action and release them in response to pathophysiological changes. In this respect these systems mimic the body's own processes and will be valuable in the delivery of highly toxic molecules such as anti-cancer drugs and also enable the delivery of new medicines such as gene therapy and therapeutic proteins.
Vectura will use the money it has raised to advance the development of its technologies, establish its own dedicated laboratories and fund the further acquisition of compatible drug delivery technology.
David Gough, founder of Vectura, said: "Drug delivery is an exciting sector of the emerging pharmaceutical market, capable of making above average returns at below average risk. By choosing to work in partnership with Merlin I have benefited not just from the initial funding but also from the highly professional support of the Merlin team. they have enabled me to turn the idea of founding a drug delivery company into a reality. In going forward I am confident that, having received initial financial support from the Merlin Fund, we will make Vectura into a leading player within our fields."
Peter Keen, Managing Director of Merlin Ventures, said: "Vectura is the seventh company in which the Merlin Fund has invested. Unlike earlier Merlin companies which have successfully been built around the work of a group of founding scientists, Vectura is based upon a strategy of sourcing and developing technology that addresses currently unmet needs. We have acquired a number of significant technologies and believe that Vectura has an exciting future in an area of major commercial interest."
For further information please contact:
Vectura Limited
Peter Virley
Tel: +44 (0)1249 667700
Fax: +44 (0)1249 667701
Email: enquiries@vectura.com
Financial Dynamics
David Yates / Lucy Briggs
Tel: + 44 (0) 207 269 7242
