BiVictriX Therapeutics (BVX) is pleased to announce the completion of a £1m funding round from existing Shareholders and the FutureFund.
The Future fund is a government loan initiative set up to invest in the UK’s SME’s with over £588m invested to date. The Future fund investment has helped to de-risk the investment made by existing investors so that BVX can continue on its development pathway without delay.
Tiffany Thorn, CEO of BiVictriX Therapeutics, said: “The Future Fund is a welcome initiative for us and I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our current investors who continue to believe in and support the business during a very difficult economic period.“
BiVictriX is a biotechnology company based at Alderley SciencePark that is reinventing the approach to cancer therapy to reduce side effects and increase potency. Their innovative Bi-cygni technology aims to revolutionise the treatment of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (“AML”) and other hard to treat cancers.
The Science
BiCyngi utilises a dual binding approach, meaning it will only bind to cells expressing two specific antigens. The antigens in question only found together and expressed on cancer cells. Healthy cells may express one antigen resulting in binding and then rapid release so the healthy cells remain unharmed. Dual binding to the cancer cells enables revolutionary selectivity and maximum potency, therefore resulting in the death of the cancer cells and leaving healthy cells unharmed. Avoiding healthy cells enables a significant reduction in the usual toxicity from cancer therapy and will allow for greater potency of treatment. The Bi-Cygni platform combined with the company’s know-how provides a wide range of diversification opportunities into different target areas and drug delivery systems such as CAR-T and ADC’s.
Use of Funding
The funding will allow the company to progress its lead asset, BVX001 following excellent in-vivo data generation which was recently secured.
The lead asset, BVX001, aims to provide a game-changing new therapy for AML which is a highly aggressive form of blood cancer and is notoriously difficult to detect and treat. AML accounts for 90% of all cases of adult acute leukaemia. If the cancer is not identified in time, the disease can rapidly spread, killing the patient in just days to weeks. Current treatment options remain limited due to high toxicities and lack of specific targeting. With just14% of men diagnosed in the UK with AML expected to live 5 years or more the need for an effective treatment such as BVX001 is clear.
BVX commenced operations in 2017 and countsDevelopment Bank of Wales, Alderley Park Ventures and High Net Worth Individuals amongst his shareholder base and has been advised by Acceleris Capital from inception.
