Date: 2013-06-17
Type of information: Series A financing round
Company: XO1 (UK)
Investors: Index Ventures (Switzerland)
Amount: $11 million (€8.25 million)
Funding type: series A financing round
Planned used: The funds will be used to develop an antibody invented at the University of Cambridge, called ichorcumab, which targets the clotting enzyme thrombin.
Others: * On June 17, 2013, the newly-formed biotechnology company, XO1 Ltd, has announced that it has raised $11million (€ 8.25 million) to develop a novel anticoagulant drug that has the potential to prevent heart attack and stroke without causing bleeding. The company has been created by Index Ventures, a leading investor in life science companies. \"This represents the largest ever Series A investment in a life science company by Index Ventures to date, underlining the transformative potential we see in this drug candidate\" said Kevin Johnson, Partner at Index Ventures, on joining the Board of XO1.
The funds will be used to develop an antibody invented at the University of Cambridge, called ichorcumab, which targets the clotting enzyme thrombin. Ichorcumab is a synthetic antibody based on a naturally-occurring antibody found in a patient at Addenbrooke\'s Hospital in 2008. \"This patient arrived in A&E with a head injury, and we rapidly discovered a degree of anticoagulation consistent with severe haemophilia\" said Trevor Baglin, Consultant Haemotologist at Addenbrooke\'s Hospital, who was responsible for looking after the patient in question. \"We thought it might be fatal. But to our surprise the bleeding stopped quite normally.\"
It was that fortuitous observation which led Dr Baglin - and his colleague Professor Jim Huntington at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, to design a synthetic version of the antibody in the patient\'s blood that was responsible for this extraordinary anticoagulation in the absence of bleeding.
The investment, which comes from the $200m Life Sciences fund Index launched last year to accelerate new drug discovery, will be used to complete the preclinical development of ichorcumab, and to manufacture substantial quantities of the antibody. \"We expect to begin trials in human volunteers inside two years\" said David Grainger, Venture Partner at Index Ventures and interim Chief Executive of XO1 Ltd.
The company will operate in virtual mode, without offices or labs, using out-sourced drug development expertise from across the globe.
Therapeutic area: Cardiovascular diseases - Hematological diseases
