Successful fundraising for Therakind
3rd April 2009
IPSO Ventures plc ("IPSO"), the creator of commercial value from technology, is pleased to announce that its portfolio company, Therakind Limited ("Therakind" or the "Company"), has successfully raised £350,000 from new investors. Therakind is a paediatric healthcare business, which was spun-out from The School of Pharmacy, University of London in October 2006.
Therakind works exclusively in paediatric medicine and can take a drug from an idea through to regulatory approval. It develops licensed paediatric medicines in collaboration with partners benefiting from the EU paediatric drug legislation.
This funding, which has been raised from an investment fund and private individual, will allow Therakind to continue its development of a paediatric sedation drug, which it is co-developing with another party. This sedation product is currently progressing through the European regulatory process and is expected to gain approval in 2010.
Therakind has continued to expand its customer base and generate significant revenues. It is currently assisting three other companies with the evaluation and development of a number of paediatric therapeutics.
Nick Rodgers, CEO of IPSO, said: "We are very pleased to have secured additional funding for Therakind. The paediatric drug market is a new and exciting field of medicine, which has largely been ignored by pharmaceutical companies as drugs developed for adults have been routinely used "off label" by clinicians treating children. Estimates vary but suggest that over 50 per cent of drugs used on children in hospitals have not been trialled on children and are therefore being used "off label"."
Ipso Management Limited had invested £420,000 in Therakind. A further £350,000 has been contributed in this fundraising by new investors. The shareholders of Therakind include the School of Pharmacy, UCL Business plc, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Prof. Ian Wong.