Venomtech announces new investment
Venomtech announces new investment
Today Venomtech Ltd. (Venomtech) announces the completion of a major investment deal from a group of investors led by Professor Walter Nimmo and Marek Gumienny. Venomtech is a biotechnology company that possesses the UK’s largest venom library and specialises in the use of venoms for drug discovery, cosmetics and pest control.
The investment will facilitate team expansion and the acquisition of vital new instrumentation, allowing Venomtech to deliver new and improved venom arrays with more efficiency and in greater depth than was previously possible. Our capacity to operate as a CRO, along with our R&D efforts, will also be greatly enhanced. Our recent discovery of venoms that inhibit the binding of SARS CoV2 to the ACE2 receptor can now be tested in full.
Steve Trim, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Venomtech, commented: “This is a fantastic opportunity to deliver the next phase of growth for Venomtech. We have been working hard on refining our understanding of venom components and their application as tools. Now we’ll have the support and resources to put this knowledge into practice, on a global scale.
Professor Karol Sikora, a leading British Oncologist and Chairman of the Venomtech Board said: “This financing allows us to rapidly develop a whole new realm of drugs, from the venom of snakes, spiders and reptiles. Millions of years of evolution have resulted in an extremely potent and sophisticated pharmacology. Understanding the novel molecular mechanisms will almost certainly yield powerful new drugs for cancer, immune regulation and even neuropsychiatric syndromes.
Venomtech understands the animals’ biology and husbandry, and has the mechanisms in place for safe venom collection, without harm to the host or operator. The curation of the constituent molecules together with the necessary pharmacological skills will allow cheap but precise assays for specific functional compounds in venom.
Novel deal structures, based in part on sales and in part in staged royalties on drugs getting into development, will rapidly expand the business in a global marketplace.”
Prof Walter Nimmo, commented: “We are delighted to have completed a significant investment in Venomtech, led by Steve Trim and Chairman Prof Karol Sikora, and to help take this company to the next stage of its development.
The search for biologicals to treat a variety of human conditions using peptides and molecules, derived from an extensive library of venoms, is an exciting journey to join. We wish the team every success.”