£625m!
PhD scientist in line for windfall after the biotech firm he co-founded is sold to global health giant
A FORMER PhD student whose work could help revolutionise diabetes treatment is set to become a multi-millionaire after selling a company he co-founded to a global health care firm for a potential £625million.
Harry Destecroix, 31, set up Ziylo alongside Professor Anthony Davis and businessman Tom Smart while he was studying for his doctorate at Bristol University in 2014.
Its team of scientists have been working to develop a new type of insulin that can sense levels of sugar in the blood and effectively have an ‘on/off’ switch to stop hypoglycaemia – dangerously low blood sugar levels.
Now the bio-tech firm has sold all rights to Danish giants Novo Nordisk, which makes about half the world’s insulin. It means Dr Destecroix, who has a 23 per cent share in the firm according to Companies House records, will have a holding worth £143million if it hits financial targets over the next ten years.
The chemistry graduate, who lives in Bristol’s affluent suburb of Redland but is originally from Winchester, Hampshire, said he was ‘really excited’ by the deal.
‘It’s a bit overwhelming,’ he told The Times. ‘For me this is just the start. Hopefully we can inspire other scientists.’
Diabetes is a condition that causes the level of sugar – glucose – in the blood to become too high. Some 90 per cent of the four million cases of diabetes in Britain are of the type 2 form, a largely preventable condition in which the body becomes resistant to insulin, which controls blood sugar levels.
The other form – type 1 – is an irreversible auto-immune disease that usually strikes in childhood, and stops the body producing insulin. Type 1 diabetics and some people with type 2 diabetes need to take insulin, either by injection or a pump, to control their blood glucose levels.
But taking more insulin than needed can cause the blood sugar level to drop too low and result in hypoglycaemia, which can be fatal.
Ziylo has developed technology that could lead to a type of insulin being developed that would be able to react and adapt to glucose levels in the blood. Scientists at the university’s Davis Research Group, including Professor Davis, have worked on the problem for many years. Its glucose-binding molecules are synthetic and were designed by Professor Davis, who also owns about a quarter of Ziylo.
Dr Destecroix said a fear of hypoglycaemia can lead to sufferers having high sugar levels.
‘One of the main reasons people have high blood sugar levels is that they’re afraid of lows,’ he said. ‘If you had an insulin you couldn’t really overdose on, that would be really exciting.
‘Novo Nordisk, as the leader in the diabetes field, is the ideal company to maximise the potential of Ziylo’s glucose- binding molecules in diabetes applications, and it brings hope of a truly groundbreaking treatment to diabetes patients.’
It is reported that Dr Destecroix now plans to invest money in other early- stage companies around Bristol as ‘a signal to the world that Bristol can be a worldclass leader in science’.
Professor Nishan Canagarajah, pro vice-chancellor for research at the university, said: ‘The university is proud of its cutting-edge research. It is gratifying to see our research being developed to the point where it has the potential to make a real difference to people’s lives.’