Early Advantage Fund invests £75,000 in Abgentis
A BIRMINGHAM company creating new treatments for life-threatening and drug-resistant bacterial infections has received a cash injection from Midven’s Early Advantage Fund.
Abgentis, based at the Birmingham Research Park at the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston, will receive £75,000 from the fund in up to three milestone-driven tranches to establish proof of concept.
The company is working to modify the antibiotic compound novobiocin, originally used to treat infections in the 1960s but which was replaced by drugs that were more competitive at the time.
Lloyd Czaplewski, who founded Abgentis, said: “Now, however, the clinical landscape has changed. There is resistance to these replacements and more recent clinical evaluation of novobiocin in oncology confirms that it is well tolerated in man.”
He said that new scientific insights into how novobiocin works provide an opportunity to re-engineer the drug to create a new and valuable antibiotic therapy.
“Antibiotics have been a low priority for development over the last decade but the clinical need is increasing with wide-spread drug-resistance, an ageing population and new markets in developing countries,” he said.
The money will be used to generate a package of pre-clinical proof-of-concept information to support the licensing of the programme to established pharmaceutical companies.
Dr Andrew Muir, a director of Midven and investment director of the Early Advantage Fund, has joined the Board of Abgentis. He said: “Lloyd has an excellent understanding of the technology and needs in the field of novel anti-bacterials and our funding will enable the company to validate its novel approach.”
The Early Advantage Fund provides investment for small, high growth businesses at start-up and early stage in the West Midlands. It has already helped secure additional private investment for the company, which plans to raise further funding this autumn. A business angel has also invested in this round.
