Spinout News

Canbex Therapeutics secures TSB Biocatalyst grant

6 September 2013

UCLB spinout company,  Canbex Therapeutics Ltd announced that it has secured a grant of £1.25M to further support the development of VSN16R.  Alongside this recent financing round, the grant helps to secure the early development of this novel treatment for spasticity in multiple sclerosis.

The goal of the Canbex programme is to set a new standard in the treatment of spasticity through improved tolerability,” said Jesse Schulman, CEO of Canbex. “Spasticity is among the most serious and debilitating symptoms of MS. VSN16R, our lead investigational candidate, has the potential to make a difference to people with MS.

Keith Powell, chairman of Canbex said “We are very grateful for the support of the Biocatalyst fund from the TSB. The grant enables us to deliver a very high quality of program in the first human trials, starting next month, and we anticipate will deliver a phase 2 ready project within a year. The grant will also enable supporting studies in the laboratories of Professor David Baker at Queen Mary, University of London and Professor David Selwood, the inventor of VSN16R at UCL”.

Canbex was founded by a leading scientific and clinical team at UCL including Professor David Baker and Professor David Selwood, who were later joined by Professor Gavin Giovannoni, a practicing MS clinician who is a global leader in MS drug development and clinical research.

The company received early funding from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (USA) through Fast Forward and a Translation Award from the Wellcome Trust in 2011 to support preclinical development of VSN16R.

For further information about Canbex, please contact: Dr Abbie Watts
E: a.watts@uclb.com
T: +44 (0)20 7679 9000

About Canbex Therapeutics Ltd
Canbex is a single-asset company that was established for the purpose of developing the VSN compound series.  In addition to its pioneering scientific founders, Canbex has assembled a skilled and focused management team.  Development activities are carried out through outsourcing to well established CROs and CMOs. The company’s capital efficiency and lean management strategy ensure that funds are deployed overwhelmingly to compound development and that the company is well structured for exit.

About the TSB Biocatalyst fund
The fund is a joint programme between the Medical Research Council and the Technology Strategy Board, working together to provide responsive and effective support for the best life science opportunities arising in the UK. Support through the Biomedical Catalyst is available to UK businesses and academics looking to develop innovative solutions to healthcare challenges either individually or in collaboration.

About UCLB
UCL Business PLC (UCLB) is a leading technology transfer company that supports and commercialises research and innovations arising from UCL, one of the UK’s top research-led universities. UCLB has a successful track record and a strong reputation for identifying and protecting promising new technologies and innovations from UCL academics. UCLB has a strong track record in commercialising medical technologies and provides technology transfer services to UCL’s associated hospitals; University College London Hospitals, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Free London Hospital. It invests directly in development projects to maximise the potential of the research and manages the commercialisation process of technologies from laboratory to market.

UCLB supports UCL’s Grand Challenges of increasing UCL’s positive impact on and contribution to Global Health, Sustainable Cities, Intercultural Interaction and Human Wellbeing.

For further information, please visit: www.uclb.com