Procarta secures major new investment
To be used to continue development of novel antibiotics
Procarta Biosystems, a UK developer of DNA-based antibiotics to tackle drug-resistant infections, has received private equity investment of £730,000, with the potential to increase it to £1.25m.
The Norwich, Norfolk-based company said it would use the funding to progress its anti-MRSA lead compound and deepen its pipeline, with particular emphasis on new therapeutics active against Gram-negative strains, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Dr Michael McArthur, Procarta's chief scientific officer, said the funding would allow the firm to ‘drive all of our programmes forward and build on the early-stage interest expressed by major pharmaceutical companies’.
In conjunction with this investment, the company is strengthening its Board by appointing two investor directors designated by current investors Morningside Venture Investments and Rainbow Seed Fund to work alongside chairman David Knowles.
Knowles is a pioneer of antibacterial research and a successful developer of therapeutics. He comes to Procarta with 20 years' experience in senior positions in major international pharmaceutical companies, including SmithKline Beecham, where he was director of molecular biology.
‘I am delighted that Procarta has secured this funding. The company's elegant therapeutic platform is potentially applicable to a wide range of bacterial diseases and Procarta can now advance its portfolio of much-needed anti-bacterials,’ he said.
