BioCap: Looking into the life science funding landscape in the North

The BioCap conference held in Manchester (Sept 29) showcased the wealth of life science investment opportunities in the North of England by bringing together international investors, companies who are seeking finance and those who have a track record of raising finance. Hosted by life sciences industry membership organisation Bionow, Baker Tilly and Weightmans LLP and sponsored by Manchester Science Partnerships and Appleyard Lees, this specialist annual life science and investment event helps to facilitate and develop relationships with potential partners for businesses and enables better understanding of the funding landscape in the life sciences sector.   

The most hotly anticipated sessions at BioCap this year were the business pitches with a total of 14 companies in the spotlight for a timed session, each hoping to attract investment. In addition there were Company showcases and workshop sessions programmed throughout the day.

This year’s keynote speaker, Jon Moulton, Managing Partner at Better Capital, highlighted that from an investor’s perspective, the difference between good and bad in Biotech is “very hard to pick.” Mr Moulton is a very active private investor and has been working in private equity since 1979. During his career he has been involved in the listing of numerous businesses and also many public to private transactions. Significantly, Jon is a member of the £3.2 Billion Government Regional Growth Fund Advisory Board.

Amongst companies competing for investor attention at the pitching sessions was Spectromics, a 2014 spin out from the University of Manchester. CEO Neil Butler spoke of  a new technology that will provide a 10 minute test, suitable for conducting at the Point-of-Prescription, thus informing healthcare workers if a patient has a bacterial infection and if so, what antibiotics will be most efficacious.

Mike Davies, co-founder of Blueberry Therapeutics Ltd, delivered a pitch on this newly formed company located at Alderley Park. Blueberry focuses on nanoparticle delivery of novel medicines to treat inflammation and infection. Duncan Henderson, Managing Director at Ai2, a University of Manchester spin-out, is currently developing a novel class of antimicrobial peptides which show a broad spectrum of activity against bacteria and fungi, including multi-drug resistant strains. The peptides are composed of natural L-amino acids, and have a very good safety profile giving them potential for use in a variety of applications.

Declan Service, MD at Innovenn Ltd, which has premises in York, spoke of how the company’s newly acquired Labskin product, a living skin equivalent model, would be in production for the company this year. The product has already been used by the likes of L’Oreal, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble and Reckitt Benckiser, and meets the European regulatory requirements for no animal testing for cosmetic products delivered into Europe.

In addition, Sameer Kothari, Chief Executive Officer at Zilico, which was established in 2006 from research at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, has developed a next generation cancer diagnostic device that removes subjectivity and increases the accuracy of results, allowing for the improvement and extension of screening programmes globally. Using electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Zedscan can differentiate between normal, pre-cancerous and cancerous cells in the cervix, providing real-time diagnosis which avoids the need for a biopsy.

A set of three parallel workshop sessions also featured during the day covering the topics: ‘Preparing your Company for a Transaction: PR & Communications’, ‘Ensuring Transaction Readiness – Maximising Value & Minimising Risk’ and finally ‘Raising Finance – The IPO Route.’ These were designed to provide insightful, strategic advice to help companies define and achieve their commercial and strategic objectives.

BioCap succeeded by encouraging and developing relationships between potential partners from business and science enabling a greater understanding of the landscape with regards to funding opportunities. The event was attended by representatives of the industry with hundreds of millions of pounds to invest representing venture capital, angels, collaborative funds and corporate finance.

Dr Geoff Davison, Chief Executive Officer of Bionow, commented: “The Conference was a great success. We had some really good companies pitch today and it is fantastic for companies to have a platform on which to showcase their products. This is the only conference of its type in the North of the UK and the event is a wonderful opportunity for developing relationships with investors and prospective business partners.”

BioCap 2015 is scheduled for Wednesday 30th Sept 2015 at Alderley Park.

For more information about BioCap or Bionow please contact Helen Williams on 07714 168020 or email Helen.williams@bionow.co.uk