Biotech Business raises $2.2m Investment

After attracting funding from overseas investors, Aptamer Group Ltd has closed its Series A investment round securing $2.2m of funding to support its aptamer development programme. This will enable expansion of the York Science Park-based business, creating ten new positions in technical, sales and administration roles.

Founded in 2008 by Chief Executive Officer, Dr Arron Tolley and Chief Technical Officer, Dr David Bunka, the company specialises in identification, development and characterisation of nucleic acid aptamers - a synthetic alternative to antibodies - which are fast becoming alternatives to traditional antibody approaches – replacing or filling the current gap in the antibody market.

“Aptamer technology is rapidly evolving and will have a significant effect on the life sciences market in the coming years due to our ability to rapidly discover aptamers - combined with advantages in the manufacturing process such as the stability of aptamers, the cost of manufacturing and the reproducibility of results when compared to antibodies. The investment will allow us to drive forward our pre-clinical discovery programmes involving the development of aptamer drug conjugates (ApDCs) which are set to become a revolutionary approach to targeted drug delivery,” said Dr Tolley.

The funding round was supported by Netherlands-based biopharmaceutical investment company, Meneldor - founded by Dutch entrepreneurs Frans van Dalen and Paul Lelieveld. Frans is a founding partner of Synthon Holdings and has 30 years' experience in the development of New Biological Entities (NBEs) and Biosimilars. Paul is a serial investor and has invested in numerous early-stage life-science companies including Ablynx, which recently sold to Sanofi for $4.8bn.