Law firm advises on £12m biotech acquisition deal

Keith Spedding

Birmingham law firm Shakespeare Martineau has advised on an innovative deal in the national biotech sector.

The firm has advised biotech investor Levrett on the acquisition of the entire share capital of Cambridge-based Nuformix in a deal worth £12m.

The acquisition, which is in tandem with a £2.3m fundraising, is intended to further an important field of drug discovery and development.

Nuformix is involved in a cutting-edge field of pharmaceutical research and development; pioneering the use of cocrystal technology to unlock the therapeutic potential of approved small molecule drugs.

The funds raised by the deal will be reinvested to help further the company’s research and development work, and to leverage its intellectual property assets.

Shakespeare Martineau has supported Levrett’s ongoing strategy to acquire an existing business, with a requirement that it ideally be complete with significant intellectual property in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

Having worked on the original IPO of Levrett, the legal firm advised on all aspects of the reverse takeover and placing, as well as the relisting on the Standard List and the London Stock Exchange.

Keith Spedding, corporate partner at Shakespeare Martineau, said: “The deal is testament to the impressive IP assets held by Nuformix and the potential for these methods to produce lifesaving treatments. Being able to help bring two companies together to better the outlook of pharmaceutical development has been a real pleasure.

“The development of drugs through cocrystallisation has significant benefits compared to more traditional methods of drug development. Specifically, Nuformix’s approach uses existing drug molecules, which have a proven safety history. This reduces development risks, costs and time and opens up a more direct regulatory pathway, allowing faster market approval.”

Pascal Hughes, CEO of Levrett, said: “We believe the Nuformix business has the potential to generate significant value in the therapeutic market as well as improve safety, treatment efficacy and reduce costs. Making such advancements, when compared to traditional biotech models, is an extremely rewarding prospect.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close