TPP Global Development secures £9.6m of funding
To be used for future drug candidate development
TPP Global Development (TPP), a drug development company headquartered in the Bioquarter in Edinburgh, Scotland, has raised £9.6m, which will be used to develop early-stage pre-clinical drug candidates.
The money has been provided by a select group of investors, including the Scottish Venture Fund.
TPP will focus on the therapeutics areas of nervous system disorders, immunology/inflammation and oncology, with early-stage, pre-clinical drug programmes sourced mainly from research institutes and universities. TPP will develop these programmes in the lab of the inventor where possible, or at a local contract research organisation (CRO). Once programmes reach the later stages of pre-clinical development, TPP will look to license them to pharma or establish them as separate spin-out companies.
Peter Trill, TPP’s chief financial officer said: ‘There has always been a funding shortfall for early stage research. This will become ever more acute as the pharma industry continues to reduce spending on pre-clinical research, instead looking to in-license late-stage pre-clinical drugs, and the economic environment puts pressure on central government and medical charity research funding.’
TPP has assembled an experienced board with strong industry expertise. Chief executive Tom Brown and Trill have almost 25 years of combined experience of advising and investing in healthcare and biotech companies. Other board members include Professor Michael Walker, chief executive of Verona and a founder of Rhythm Search Developments (RSD), which evolved into Nortran Pharmaceuticals and subsequently NASDAQ-listed Cardiome, and Dr Sharon O’Kane, a founder of LSE-listed Renovo.
The firm’s scientific advisory board (SAB) is chaired by Professor Sid Gilman, previously member and chairman of the FDA’s PNS/CNS committee (the panel advising the FDA on drugs targeting nervous system disorders) and a renowned scientist in the fields of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
‘We are fundamentally a science company but our board brings more to TPP than scientific excellence – these are individuals with a substantial track record of commercial success,’ said Brown.