NanoSyrinx, a synthetic biology company developing nanosyringes as a novel platform for targeted intracellular delivery of biologic therapeutics, todays announced that it has closed a c. £10 million (c. $13 million) financing round.

The funding will support further advancement of the company’s technology platform to accelerate the development of biologic therapeutics against a pipeline of previously ‘undruggable’ intracellular targets. The company also announced the appointment of Dr Edwin Moses as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

The round was co-led by BGF, Octopus Ventures and M Ventures, with support from existing investors, IQ Capital and Meltwind. Global medicines company Eli Lilly and Company also participated. The funding will be used to drive further development of NanoSyrinx’s technology platform, to realise its full potential in advancing intracellular medicine. The platform is based around naturally occurring ‘nanosyringes’ which are engineered to selectively deliver peptide and protein payloads – including functional gene editors and a range of other enzymes – directly to the cytosol of targeted cells.

Alongside the financing, Edwin Moses has joined as NanoSyrinx’s Chairman, taking over from Stephen Taylor who has led the Board since the company’s inception. Edwin is a renowned entrepreneur and C-level executive in the life sciences industry, brining over 30 years of Board-level experience from over 20 life science companies. Currently Chairman of Achilles Therapeutics plc, LabGenius Ltd and Avantium NV, he has an impressive track record building and scaling innovative biotech platform companies, achieving multiples successful exists and raising over €700 million in equity and debt financing to date. Previously, Edwin was CEO of Ablynx NV until its agreed takeover by Sanofi for $4.8 billion in 2018, and CEO of Oxford Asymmetry International plc prior to its sale to Evotec for £316 million. He led both companies’ successful IPOs on the London Stock Exchange, EuroNext and NASDAQ. His appointment as Chairman of NanoSyrinx’s Board of Directors will help support the executive team in maximising value from the Company’s nanosyringe platform, through a combination of in-house pipeline development and strategic commercial partnerships.

Pioneer Group Support

NanoSyrinx was named the winner of the 2022 AbbVie UK Golden Ticket Accelerator Programme, designed to help early-stage life science companies translate drug discovery and gain access to crucial research space.

As winners of the Golden Ticket programme, NanoSyrinx was provided with:

• One year of free lab space, funded by AbbVie, at Pioneer Group’s BioCity Nottingham site, where NanoSyrinx have access to core facilities and services.
• Tailored support from AbbVie’s world-leading global and UK scientists, business leaders and mentors.
• Exclusive access to AbbVie and Pioneer Group’s networks over the year with the opportunity for future collaboration.

How our journey with NanoSyrinx has evolved so far:

• NanoSyrinx attended the Pioneer Group Pre-Accelerator Workshop (2019).
• Pioneer Group were involved in multiple investment rounds (2020-2022).
• Pioneer Group partnered with AbbVie to provide mentorship and free access to lab space for 12 months (2022).

NanoSyrinx Key Milestones:

• NanoSyrinx spun out from University of Warwick (2020).
• The company had an oversubscribed £6.2 million seed funding round.
• They won an award for “Best Innovation” by ICURe.
• They won the 2022 AbbVie x Pioneer Group Golden Ticket.
• Proof-of-concept studies have been carried out.

Dr Joe Healey, Chief Executive Officer, NanoSyrinx, said: “Edwin has significant experience as a successful CEO and Chairman, with extensive involvement in biotech fundraising, strategic commercial partnerships and successful exists. We are thrilled to have him joining as Chair of our Board as we drive forward with our ambitious plans. He joins us at a pivotal stage alongside this financing, which places us in a well-capitalised position to further develop our intracellular drug delivery technology to realise its full potential in developing medicines. We would like to thank Steve for all his help over the years, and recognise the instrumental part he has played in getting the company to where it is today.”

Dr Edwin Moses, Chairman, NanoSyrinx, commented: “NanoSyrinx’s technology promises to make a tremendous positive difference to the very challenging problem of intracellular delivery of therapeutics. I am delighted to join the Board and help build on the momentum of this latest fundraise, to support the Company and its leadership team in the further development of this unique platform which has the potential to create enormous value and make a real difference to patient’s lives.”

Lucy Edwardes Jones, Investor at BGF, said: “While huge advances have been made in the field of biologic therapies, the delivery challenge remains a key bottleneck. We are excited by the potential of NanoSyrinx’s unique technology to unlock this, enabling promising new drugs to reach previously inaccessible disease targets in the body. We are looking forward to working closely with Edwin, the team and our co-investors to see this exciting technology through to impact.