Fusion IP confirms another investment

FUSION IP, the Sheffield-based university commercialisation company, has invested in Diurna – a company developing an alternative drug delivery to patients suffering from reduced cortisol and testosterone levels.

Fusion has invested £300,000 into the Cardiff-based firm. The investment is part of a £600,000 funding round in which Finance Wales has also invested £300,000 under a Memorandum of Understanding with Fusion.

Following the fund raising Fusion will have a 51.6% shareholding in Diurnal.

Diurnal has developed a delayed and sustained release therapy to deliver hydrocortisone in a manner that mimics the body’s normal circadian rhythm (the body’s natural 24 hour hormone cycle).

This therapeutic approach has the potential to help patients with deficiencies in steroid hormones, testosterone, thyroid hormones and associated conditions by regulating metabolism, growth development and puberty, tissue function and in determining mood.

Each of these deficiencies requires life-long treatment and Diurnal’s novel approach to drug delivery has the potential to drastically improve patients’ lives.

David Baynes, chief executive of Fusion IP, said: “Diurnal’s endocrine therapies have great potential for patients suffering from hormone deficiencies.

“Taking Chronocort into phase one clinical trials next year is a major step forward for Diurnal and we are delighted to see the company making such positive progress.”

Last week Fusion announced that one of its portfolio companies Morvus Technologies had completed a £2.15m fund-raising.

The firm said that the successful fund-raising should result in a value uplift of around £450,000.

Following the funding round Fusion now has a 9.7% shareholding in Morvus.