Life sciences firm to drive US growth after cash injection
● £2m investment follows launch of first international office for Aberdeen firm
An Aberdeen-headquartered life sciences firm has secured seven-figure funding as it looks to push into the lucrative US market.
EnteroBiot ix, a company which harness es bacteria from the human gut to pre - vent and treat infections and diseases, has closed an oversubscribed investment round of £2 million.
It signals a further boost for Scotland’ s buoyant life sciences sector and comes as the firm gears up for international expansion, following the recent launch of its office in Boston, Massachusetts.
The move is set to drive operations and business develop - ment in the US market, with chief executive James Clark hailing the US city as home to “one of the most active life science clusters in the world”.
Led by Scottish angel firm Equity Gap, the funding round was supported by existing investors the University of Aberdeen, the Bank Workers Charity, and the Scottish Investment Bank (SIB) – the investment arm of Scottish Enterprise. It included backing from new investors Barwell, Gabriel, Syndicate Room, Fund Twenty8, NCIMB and SIS Ventures.
EnteroBiotixh as also launched a strategic collaboration with the University of Glasgow to support research which the company hopes will allow it to create an “entirely novel” medicinal product.
There search partnership is supported by the Medical Research Council’s Confidence in Concept scheme, which provides annual awards of up to £1m.
In September the biopharmaceutical firm was thought to become the first company to gain a licence from the Medicine sand Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to produce faecal microbiota for therapeutic applications.
It aims to help alleviate the symptoms of, or even cure, ailments ranging from bacterial infections such as C.difficile, to chronic conditions like obesity, liver disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
En te robiotixh as previously raised more than £2.5 min seed investment.
JamesMcIlroy,fo under and president of Entero Biotix,s aid :“We are delighted with the support of both existing and new investors as we strengthen our leadership position in the field of microbiome therapeutics.
“This investment round and our new office in the States enables us to achieve key regulatory, operational and clinical milestones as we continue to develop and advance our product pipeline for the benefit of patients.”
Kerry Sharp, director of the Scottish Investment Bank, said: “SIB is delighted to pro - vide follow on funding alongside existing and new investors in Enterobiotix.
“This round of investment will fund ongoing scientific advances which will bring significant health benefits to patients as well as support expansion overseas.
“We look forward to continuing to work with this company to support it in achieving its growth ambitions.”