UCLB and Albion Ventures jointly invest £1m in Abcodia

Abcodia, a company engaged in the validation and discovery of molecular biomarkers for disease diagnosis and screening, is pleased to announce that it has secured funding of £1 million to develop its visionary plans which could transform the way that life-­threatening diseases are diagnosed.

The investment by Albion Ventures and UCL Business Plc (UCLB) will be used by Abcodia to invest in translational studies using its unique longitudinal serum collection that it has licensed from University College London (UCL), one of the world’s leading research-­led universities. Through global partnerships, Abcodia aims to make groundbreaking discoveries and improve the diagnosis of many common life-­threatening and debilitating diseases, including the major cancers -­ colon, lung, pancreatic -­as well as other conditions such as diabetes, osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Julie Barnes, CEO of Abcodia, welcomed the news: “We are delighted to be able to secure this latest investment. Albion Ventures has recognised the progress we have made since the company was launched earlier this year and the considerable value in our exclusive access to what is probably the world’s largest longitudinal serum collection. The funding will be used to expand our team and build long term partnerships with both commercial and academic groups interested in working with us to advance the field.”

Andrew Elder, Partner, Albion Ventures said: “Abcodia is an attractive investment for us given its unique position in the global diagnostic market, which is seeing a rapid growth due to the demand for effective diagnostics for disease screening and personalised medicine.”

Cengiz Tarhan, Managing Director of UCLB said: “We look forward to supporting Abcodia in realising its vision to help bring life changing discoveries in disease screening to market. Our joint investment alongside Albion is an important step to ensuring Abcodia is properly funded and has the necessary backing to succeed.”

About Abcodia
Abcodia is an innovative company engaged in the validation and discovery of molecular biomarkers. With its unique longitudinal serum biobank and partnerships with UCL, technology platform providers and leading commercial diagnostic companies, Abcodia is able to support the end-­to-­end diagnostic development process.

For more information, please visit the website.

About Albion Ventures
Albion Ventures LLP is a leading independent venture capital investor, managing approximately £230 million across nine Venture Capital Trusts.

For more information, please visit the website.

About UCLB
UCLB is responsible for commercialising innovations arising from the research base at UCL, one of the UK’s leading research-­led universities. UCLB undertakes a broad range of knowledge transfer activities, covering the facilitation of consultancy and collaborative research engagements through to technology transfer, company incubation and investment.

For more information, please visit the website.