Investor News | ��ҹ�糡

��ҹ�糡 announces successful completion of £1m food allergy paediatric diagnostics project substantially funded by Innovate UK.

��ҹ�糡 — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 16:49:29 +0000

��ҹ�糡 announces successful completion of £1m food allergy paediatric diagnostics project substantially funded by Innovate UK.

��ҹ�糡, a clinical diagnostic company dedicated to providing innovative diagnostics for life-threatening food allergies, are delighted to announce the successful completion of a c.£1m project substantially funded by Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst.

This marks a significant milestone in the development of the challenge meals for peanut, milk and egg allergy, suitable for allergic individuals from 6 months old extending our pharma-grade allergy diagnostics portfolio.

Food allergy in young children is a major health concern, and its prevalence is rising. It is often over-diagnosed by parents, resulting occasionally in unnecessary exclusion of some important foods. It also causes stress, anxiety, and even depression in parents and affects the family’s quality of life. The project builds on ��ҹ�糡’s existing adult formulations covering several highly relevant allergens (peanut, egg, and milk) currently being utilised globally in therapeutic clinical trials. This project sought to develop diagnostics targeted at the very young, incorporating unique texturisers, aroma and flavour agents tailored to children aged as young as 6 months.

During the Innovate UK funded project, in addition to the formulation of these challenge meals, advanced analytics were developed to ensure safety and compliance to regulations globally. The challenge meals will be ready for supply to the clinical trial space in 2026.

Hayley Lett, Head of R&D commented, “I am delighted that Innovate UK have deemed this project a success and I thank the whole team at ��ҹ�糡 for their hard work and commitment to the project. The products developed have the potential to fundamentally improve safety and efficacy of food allergy diagnostics for very young children.”

www.hyjliao.com��bout Biomedical Catalyst

The Biomedical Catalyst is Innovate UK’s flagship grant funding mechanism helping small and medium-sized businesses test and develop innovative health and care solutions across life sciences, including therapeutics, medical devices, and digital health. The Biomedical Catalyst transforms innovative ideas into commercially viable businesses.

www.hyjliao.comAbout Innovate UK

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is the UK’s innovation agency. It works to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. Its mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.

Innovate UK: inspiring business innovation.

First major milestone reached for ��ҹ�糡 £1m Innovate UK funded project

��ҹ�糡 — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 16:29:17 +0000

First major milestone reached for ��ҹ�糡 £1m Innovate UK funded project

Posted onwww.hyjliao.comFebruary 10, 2023

��ҹ�糡 is helping combat food allergies amongst paediatrics, addressing the unmet need for greater research and clinical practice in children to prevent rising hospitalisations1, having finalised the initial formulation for milk challenge meals which can be used as Oral Food Challenges (OFCs) for diagnosis and monitoring of milk allergies in clinical trials.

The gold-standard for food allergy diagnostics is a Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Oral Food Challenge. OFCs involve patients consuming incrementally increasing amounts of a suspect food allergen until a reaction occurs.

In a £935,936, 24-month project substantially funded by Innovate UK, the pharmaceutical company has completed the first stage of developing challenge meals for paediatric trial participants, from six months old.

Food allergy affects 3-6% of children in the developed world2. Not only is it resulting in rising hospital admissions and the risk of death from anaphylaxis, but also social exclusion, reduced quality of life, and financial repercussions (estimated at £2,489 a year).

While early clinical studies investigating new therapies in food allergy normally begin with adult subjects, many are now focusing on children. This is in response to growing evidence around food allergen introduction in early years, such as the 2015 Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study, which found that the early introduction of peanuts significantly increases long lasting peanut tolerance among children at high risk for this allergy3.

Dr Paul Abrahams, CEO of ��ҹ�糡, says: “When it comes to food allergies, we should look at how we can diagnose them early on in life to establish treatment and make it more manageable. Current non-pharmaceutical grade food challenges aren’t accurate nor safe enough for very young children.

“We’re delighted to be leading the way in developing a more advanced approach to food allergy diagnosis amongst children. The end goal is a future where people’s quality of life isn’t impacted by food allergies, and that should begin from childhood.”

The project is funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency. ��ҹ�糡 was awarded a Biomedical Catalyst Grants that support health and life sciences SMEs in developing innovative solutions to healthcare challenges. During the course of the project, ��ҹ�糡 will develop paediatric challenge meals not only to test for milk allergies but peanut and eggs too.

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^{3www.hyjliao.comwww.hyjliao.com}https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1414850

Development Bank of Wales ramping up tech equity deals since the lockdown

��ҹ�糡 — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 15:23:07 +0000

Development Bank of Wales ramping up tech equity deals since the lockdown

Posted onwww.hyjliao.comSeptember 12, 2022

The Development Bank of Wales has invested £2.4m of equity into ten of Wales’ most promising tech-focused start-ups over a ten week period since the pandemic lockdown.

With a specialist team and funding to support technology businesses, the Development Bank of Wales is one of the top five technology investors in the UK according to the Beauhurst Report.

The deals:

��ҹ�糡 Biotech, £625,000

Based in Flintshire ��ҹ�糡 Biotech has completed its largest funding round to date, which has raised £1.25m of equity finance including £625,000 from the Development Bank of Wales.

As cases of food allergy and allergy related hospitalisations continue to rise, ��ҹ�糡’s core focus is to improve the diagnosis and management of allergies.

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This is through the provision of a pharmaceutical grade Oral Food Challenge (OFC), the gold standard for the clinical testing of food allergy.

The investment has been drawn down from existing investors, management, Moulton Goodies, Development Bank of Wales and Acceleris Capital.

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The capital raised will help ��ҹ�糡 Biotech to achieve the regulatory approval for its manufacturing facility in Deeside.

Professor Ashley Woodcock, chairman of ��ҹ�糡 Biotech said: “This investment is a significant step in the development of ��ҹ�糡 Biotech’s business.

“A combination of seeking our own MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) approval and the recent FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval of the first specific food allergy therapy set to launch in the US soon, creates ideal timing for ��ҹ�糡 to become the only standardised and trusted OFC for all food allergy therapeutics.”

For further information please visitwww.hyjliao.com

ENDS

US Patent No 11,389,548; Oral Food Challenge Meal Formulations; was granted to ��ҹ�糡 on 19.07.2022.

��ҹ�糡 Awarded Major Biomedical Catalyst Grant to develop Paediatric Food allergy diagnostics

��ҹ�糡 — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 15:11:31 +0000

��ҹ�糡 Awarded Major Biomedical Catalyst Grant to develop Paediatric Food allergy diagnostics

Posted onwww.hyjliao.comApril 27, 2022

The £1 million grant will support the development of the first Oral Food Challenges (OFCs) for paediatric patients to diagnose peanut, milk, and egg allergies.

Food allergy (FA) prevalence and hospitalisations are rising, especially in young children. Families face death from anaphylaxis, social exclusion, reduced quality-of-life (QoL), and out-of-pocket costs >£2489/year. A coming wave of new treatments promises to revolutionise FA, stimulating strong demand for partner diagnostics and driving the paediatric FA diagnostics market at 111% CAGR to reach £1.9Bn by 2029.

Today’s gold-standard Food allergy diagnostic is the OFC where patients consume incrementally increasing amounts of suspect food until a mild reaction versus an indistinguishable low/zero-dose control. However, current non-pharmaceutical grade food challenges are unblinded, inaccurate, poorly scalable, and unsafe especially in the very young children.

The awarding of the Biomedical Catalyst Grant with enable ��ҹ�糡 to extend its pharma grade product portfolio in the development of OFC’s to peanut, egg and milk for use in young patients aged 6 months and upwards.

Our robust, scalable, standardised OFCs already delivers superior safety, diagnostic accuracy, in older children and adults. From these, the new paediatric formulations will be developed and will incorporate unique texturisers, aroma and flavour agents tailored to very young children, develop advanced analytics including extraction buffers, antibody probes, and bioanalytical methods to track allergens, and integrate prototypes into cGMP production.

About the Biomedical Catalyst

The Biomedical Catalyst (BMC) is a unique partnership between the Medical Research Council and Innovate UK, providing responsive and effective support to the most innovative life sciences opportunities regardless of scientific approach. The BMC aims to de-risk innovative science and commercialise ideas arising out of academia and industry helping UK SMEs to develop into competitive and sustainable organisations. This accelerates the progress of novel products to market, facilitates onward investment and bridges “the valley of death.”

Innovate UK

Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government. Innovate UK drives productivity and economic growth by supporting businesses to develop and realise the potential of new ideas, including those from the UK’s world-class research base. They connect businesses to the partners, customers and investors that can help them turn these ideas into commercially successful products and services, and business growth.

Praetura Ventures leads £2.9m investment in food allergy diagnostic firm

��ҹ�糡 — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 15:17:13 +0000

Praetura Ventures leads £2.9m investment in food allergy diagnostic firm

Posted onwww.hyjliao.comJuly 14, 2021

Praetura Ventures, the Manchester-based VC firm, has led a £2.9m funding round to support a business that is on course to transform the food allergy diagnostics market.

��ҹ�糡 Biotech (��ҹ�糡), which is based in Deeside, North Wales, produces clinical diagnostics kits for food allergy testing.

The business improves the efficiency, accuracy and safety of food allergy testing by producing pharmaceutical grade Oral Food Challenges (OFCs), the gold standard test for diagnosing food allergies.

In the latest funding round, £1.5m came from Praetura Ventures, the venture capital fund manager that targets early-stage businesses in high-growth sectors.

Having made an initial seed investment in 2019, the Development Bank of Wales will invest a further £1m in equity funding.

Other investors in the funding round include venture capitalist Jon Moulton’s family office, Perscitus and ��ҹ�糡’s management team.

The transaction was brokered by ��ҹ�糡’s long-term advisers, Acceleris Capital, who have previously raised £4m for the company since it was founded.

The business will use the funding to scale up the manufacture of its current product range including peanut, egg and milk OFCs and to extend its product portfolio.

Dr Paul Abrahams, CEO of ��ҹ�糡, said: “It’s been a landmark year for ��ҹ�糡, and we continue to go from strength-to-strength as a business, developing new diagnostic products and expanding our capabilities.

“The number of people experiencing food allergies is increasing, so it’s vital that technologies to accurately and safely test for allergies are developed.

“We’re committed to providing excellence in the development of a suite of OFC products, and revolutionising the way food allergies are diagnosed worldwide.”

Praetura Ventures has previously invested in healthcare businesses including innovative drug ‘switching’ company Maxwellia, Dr Fertility and Ostara Biomedical.

The firm recently appointed four industry heavyweights as operational partners to bring significant experience to support the founders.

“The firm’s investment in ��ҹ�糡 was led by investment director Louise Chapman and director Dr Andy Round.

Dr Andy Round added: “It’s great to be backing a business which is on track to have a significant and positive impact on society as well as returning significant funds for our investors.

“We look forward to supporting the team on the clinical contacts and customer side, as well as working with them on the strategy and marketing.”

Source:www.hyjliao.com

UK food allergy diagnostic company, ��ҹ�糡 Biotech raises £1.25m to continue expansion plans

��ҹ�糡 — Tue, 21 Apr 2020 15:05:18 +0000

UK food allergy diagnostic company, ��ҹ�糡 Biotech raises £1.25m to continue expansion plans

Posted onwww.hyjliao.comApril 21, 2020

��ҹ�糡 Biotech raises £1.25m to secure MHRA site license
Once achieved, the license will enable significantly expanded production of its Oral Food Challenge Diagnostic for food allergy
Existing investors Moulton Goodies Limited, Development Bank of Wales and Acceleris invest in this round
Fundraising brokered by lead advisers, Acceleris Capital

��ҹ�糡 Biotech has today announced the completion of its largest funding round to date, which has raised £1.25m of www.hyjliao.com– with further investment expected in the coming months.

��ҹ�糡 is a North-Wales based biotechnology company producing diagnostic kits for food allergy. Cases of food allergy and allergy related hospitalisations continue to rise globally at an alarming rate. ��ҹ�糡’s core focus is to improve the diagnosis and management of allergies through the provision of a pharmaceutical grade Oral Food Challenge (“OFC”), the gold standard for the clinical testing of food allergy.

The measurement of specific IgE antibodies for food allergies, either by skin or blood tests is inaccurate, with many false positives, and provides no measure of severity of the allergic reaction. Oral Food Challenge is the gold standard for www.hyjliao.comfood allergy diagnosis, before the initiation of the new long term therapies, and for the assessment of treatment response.

The investment has been drawn down from existing investors, management, Moulton Goodies Limited, Development Bank of Wales and Acceleris Capital. The company has been advised by Acceleris Capital and Gateley.

The capital raised will be used to achieve the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”) approval of the Company’s manufacturing facility in Deeside, North Wales. Obtaining an MHRA site license (expected in the coming months) confers Pharma Good Manufacturing Practice (“GMP”) manufacturing status on ��ҹ�糡, which, in turn, will allow the Company to begin production of larger volumes for product supply to highly regulated markets. By securing this license, the addressable market for the Company will be significantly expanded.

Professor Ashley Woodcock, Chairman of ��ҹ�糡 Biotech commented that, “This investment is a significant step in the development of ��ҹ�糡 Biotech’s business. A combination of seeking our own MHRA approval and the recent FDA approval of the first specific food allergy therapy set to launch in the US soon, creates ideal timing for ��ҹ�糡 to become the only standardised and trusted OFC for all food allergy therapeutics.”

Simon Thorn, MD of Acceleris said: “We are delighted to complete this transaction with the team at ��ҹ�糡 and the other existing shareholders. ��ҹ�糡 is on an upward curve and with the expected MHRA license, is in line to see significant expansion. This market has become increasingly apparent with the significant rise in global food allergy cases and the alarming increase in hospitalisations due to anaphylaxis. We are proud as a firm to work with such a leader in its field and a company that will make a huge difference to many peoples’ quality of life.”

Paul Abrahams, CEO of ��ҹ�糡 Biotech commented on the raise: “We are extremely pleased to announce our raise today and continue our positive progress towards becoming the gold standard oral food challenge diagnostic supplier in the market.” “Our business is addressing a significant unmet need for standardised, stable, accurate, palatable and fully blinded OFC’s. Obtaining MHRA accreditation is a key driver for our future growth and we are pleased that we now have the investment to support the future demand for our regulated product and build on our revenues and list of customers.”

Michael Bakewell, Deputy Fund Manager who manages technology venture investments at the Development Bank of Wales said: “We’re very happy to continue our support for ��ҹ�糡 Biotech with a further round of equity co-investment. This funding comes at a time when we are seeing a lot of global interest in food allergy therapeutics, an area where ��ҹ�糡 is fast making a name for itself. Gettingwww.hyjliao.coman MHRA site license for their Deeside manufacturing facility is a great next step in their growth as a company.”