EMV Capital has announced that its subsidiary, Moirai Acquisitions (Bidco), will acquire Destiny Pharma’s XF drug platform assets, including intellectual property, stock and contracts, for up to £2.48m.
The drug platform is a novel ultra-rapid antibiotic designed to limit bacterial resistance and outperform traditional therapies.
Terms of the APA
Under the asset purchase agreement (APA), Bidco will pay an initial cash amount of £475,000 plus VAT, with deferred payments of up to £2m based on future milestones.
These include £600,000 for launching a US FDA Phase III clinical trial, £900,000 for US regulatory approval and up to £500,000 linked to a potential milestone fee from net sales under a regional commercialisation agreement with a pharmaceutical partner in Hong Kong.
Funding and working capital
The initial payment is funded through third-party financing arranged by EMV Capital Partners, the company’s venture capital and corporate finance arm, via a three-year term loan with full warrant coverage.
Before Phase III trials or US approval, Bidco plans further fundraising to cover milestone-based deferred payments.
EMV Capital Partners is also leading an equity fundraising round to raise up to £725,000 for Bidco’s working capital, expected to be completed in September 2025.
Once complete, the Bidco assets will add around £1.86m to EMV’s assets under management, including EMV’s direct equity stake of 43.8% (~£560,000) and third-party assets of 56.2% (~£1.3m).
About Destiny Pharma and XF-73
Destiny Pharma was an AIM-listed biotechnology company developing treatments to prevent life-threatening infections, particularly post-surgical site infections caused by antibiotic-resistant S. aureus (MRSA).
The company entered administration in August 2024 and liquidation in August 2025.
XF-73 offers several advantages, including the following:
- Ultra-rapid bacterial kill
- Effective against bacteria at any growth phase
- Active against staphylococcal biofilms
- Targets Gram-positive bacteria and some Gram-negative strains
- No resistance observed so far.
Before administration, Destiny Pharma completed a Phase IIb trial of its XF-73 nasal gel and planned a Phase III study.
Dr Ilian Iliev, CEO of EMV Capital and Investor Director of Bidco, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Moirai and its XF-73 assets to our venture building programme and the EMV Capital portfolio."
"This transaction represents another example of our capital-efficient investment approach, whereby EMV Capital Partners is able to deploy its multidisciplinary team to structure and execute complex venture building investment opportunities and introduce these to its network of supportive investors."
"EMV Capital has maintained a significant direct stake in this exciting business whilst also growing its third-party assets under management."
“As a VC, we are focussed on obtaining high returns for our investors, but equally, we believe that, where possible, such efforts should be focused on areas of high social impact."
"Our investment is in the extremely important area of anti-microbial resistance, one of the top global public health
threats and within that, specifically on preventing hospital infections and, in particular, post-surgical infections."
"We hope to show how our capital-efficient investment approach can be applied to such contexts.
“The EMV Capital and Bidco teams have been working closely on this project since July and we look forward to supporting the new Bidco management team in the execution of their planned strategic development of XF-73.”