SuperX Ltd, a biopharmaceutical company based in Cambridge, UK, announced today it has completed an $11m Series A investment led by Medicxi to develop antibodies with anticoagulant properties. Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JJDC, Inc. (JJDC), the corporate venture arm of Johnson & Johnson, also participated in the financing round.
Founded by Trevor Baglin, who will act as Chief Medical Officer at SuperX, together with David Grainger and Jim Huntington, SuperX reunites the entire management team that founded XO1 Ltd, which was acquired by Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, in March 2015.
The SuperX team is engaged in the discovery of antibodies against an undisclosed target in the blood coagulation cascade. SuperX hopes to reach the clinic in 2019.
Huntington, Professor of Molecular Haemostasis at Cambridge University, who will act as Chief Scientific Officer for SuperX, observed, "SuperX is taking a novel approach to specifically block the thrombosis that causes heart attacks and strokes, which we hope will deliver the ideal anticoagulant treatment for chronic use."
SuperX has also recruited XO1 veterans Bob Schroff, as its operations chief, and Jo Davies, as its intellectual property manager. Grainger, a Partner at Medicxi, the life sciences investment team that spun-out from Index Ventures at the start of 2016, will act as CEO at SuperX.
The SuperX approach is based on observations from unusual case studies in patients. "These experiments of nature have shone a light on the intricacies of blood coagulation pathways that have evaded conventional reductionist science for decades," explained Baglin, whose eye for an unusual clinical phenotype underpins SuperX.
Kevin Johnson, Partner at Medicxi, who will serve as Chairman of the SuperX Board said, "We are delighted to have another opportunity to back a team with a proven track record in early-stage drug discovery, with a unique vision of how the anticoagulant drug space will develop over the next decade. Their virtual drug development model is a perfect fit with the asset-centric strategy we have championed at Medicxi."
SuperX is based on the Babraham Research Campus, just south of Cambridge, UK. It will operate as a virtual biotechnology company, with no internal operations, using an established network of out-sourced drug discovery and development providers, many of which are co-located on the Babraham campus. "Cambridge today leads the world with the strength-in-depth of high quality out-sourced drug discovery companies, which gives a virtual start-up like SuperX the ability to compete with global pharmaceutical companies at a fraction of the cost," observed Grainger.
About Medicxi
Medicxi is a life sciences focused venture capital, recently spun out of Index Ventures. One of Europe's largest dedicated life sciences VC firms, Medicxi has offices in London, Jersey and Geneva.
Past and existing portfolio companies include for example GenMab, PanGenetics (acquired by Abbott), Minerva Neurosciences, Egalet , Molecular Partners, Versartis, Levicept, XO1 (acquired by Janssen), MorphogenIX, and Gadeta.
About Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC
Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. is the venture capital subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson. It has been investing since 1973 in the medical device, diagnostic, pharmaceutical and consumer health areas. JJDC's goal is to create opportunities that meet the strategic needs of its operating affiliates while providing visibility to innovative emerging technology, businesses and business models. JJDC invests in companies across the continuum from early stage seed investments to advanced stages of series venture management.
About Babraham Research Campus
Babraham Bioscience Technologies Ltd (BBT) is responsible for the commercial development of the Babraham Research Campus. The Babraham Research Campus is distinct in its co-location of bioscience companies with the Babraham Institute, a world-renowned research organisation. The Campus provides companies laboratory and office space together with access to outstanding scientific facilities in an ideal geographical location at the core of the Cambridge c...
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