SpiroGen Ltd.
RCT-backed Cambridge Research BioVentures Ltd. (CRB) was the lead investor in a $1 million financing of SpiroGen Ltd., a London-based company developing new gene-targeting technology.
SpiroGen is commercializing a platform technology capable of discovering lead compounds that target any gene sequence. The company's work on new agents that can recognize and interact with any specified gene sequence has widespread applications in the fields of biotechnology, cancer and virology.
One of SpiroGen's compounds, an antitumor agent called SG 2000, is already in pre-clinical development at the National Cancer Institute in the United States and with trial groups in Europe. The Ipsen pharmaceutical group acquired worldwide rights from Spirogen to develop SG 2000. The agreement also provides Ipsen with exclusive access to three selected gene targets as a platform for the synthesis and development of further anticancer drug candidates and a 20 percent equity stake in SpiroGen.
Other SpiroGen investors include Cambridge Research & Innovation Ltd. (CRIL), Xenva Ltd. and Bloomsbury Investment Capital, the investment arm of University College London (UCL). Cancer Research Campaign Technologies (CRCT), UCL and the Universities of Portsmouth and Nottingham are also SpiroGen shareholders.
SG 2000 is currently undergoing four Phase 1 clinical trials, one in Europe and three in the United States. These studies are being conducted by CR-UK and NCI, respectively. Each study is evaluating different administration schedules for tolerability as well as defining the associated pharmacokinetic profiles. Three trials are in patients with solid tumors while the fourth is focusing on hematological malignancies.
Inventors/Founders
Prof. David Thurston, and Philip Howard, Ph.D., University of Nottingham, and John Hartley, Ph.D., University College London
SpiroGen Contact
Chris Martin, SpiroGen CEO, London
RCT Contact
Shaun A. Kirkpatrick, RCT President & Chief Operating Officer