British Patient Capital, a commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, has made a £10m investment in Maxion Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing antibody-based KnotBody drugs for ion channel and G protein coupled receptor (GPCR) driven diseases, as part of a £58 m ($72 m) Series A financing round.
The round was led by General Catalyst with additional investment from new investors, British Patient Capital, Solasta Ventures and Eli Lilly and Company and supported by existing investors LifeArc Ventures, Monograph Capital and BGF.
The financing will be used to develop Maxion’s proprietary KnotBody technology, taking programmes to clinical proof of concept and advance its opportunity to address large global markets.
Leandros Kalisperas, Chief Investment Officer at the British Business Bank, said: “We provide critical growth funding for companies with breakthrough science and technology.
“The UK is a world leader in life sciences, but startups in the sector depend on multiple rounds of funding for research and development.
“Our direct investing team specialise in investing in high-potential, R&D intensive companies like Maxion Therapeutics. By helping them to launch innovative products and commercialise, we stimulate growth, create jobs, and build the UK’s scientific ecosystem.”
Maxion’s lead KnotBody programme, MAX001, is currently in preclinical development to target a broad spectrum of inflammatory diseases such as atopic dermatitis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Other early-stage programmes include KnotBody molecules for the treatment of pain and cardiovascular disease.
Ion channel and GPCR dysfunction is implicated in a wide range of debilitating diseases and current treatments, based on small molecule drugs, often suffer from poor efficacy and side effects due to the lack of selectivity and exposure.
Compared to small molecules, engineered antibodies offer superior selectivity and are well proven therapeutically.
Despite these obvious advantages, antibody discovery against ion channels and GPCRs has been very challenging with no antibodies against ion channels currently in clinical development.
Following this fundraising, Elena Viboch, Managing Director at General Catalyst and Emma Johnson, Senior Investment Manager, Life Sciences at British Patient Capital will join the Maxion Board.
Emma Johnson, Senior Investment Manager – Life Sciences, Direct & Co-Investments, British Patient Capital, said: “We’re excited to support Maxion at a pivotal stage in their development and realise the potential of the KnotBody platform.
“This advances the field of antibody therapeutics, opening up new target classes to ultimately benefit patients, and builds on the successes of the UK’s contributions to the global biologics market.”
Elena Viboch, Managing Director at General Catalyst, added: “We believe Maxion is radically shifting the biologics discovery process to address the most challenging drug targets such as ion channels and GPCRs.
“With a strong team and differentiated platform, Maxion is well-positioned to discover and develop medicines that matter.”
