The investment cements PredictImmune’s solid financial position, enabling it to build on the successful launch of its first product, PredictSURE IBD™, with a major focus on continued commercial expansion across Europe, the USA and the rest of the world in the coming months. It also allows the organisation to expand its horizons in terms of product development – expanding existing activities in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as well as into a range of additional autoimmune areas including systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The objective is to build a portfolio of new products to complement and enrich PredictImmune’s prognostic test pipeline in the coming years.
The level of financing reflects the success of the company to date and extends the strong relationship PredictImmune enjoys with existing investors Parkwalk and Cambridge Enterprise. An expectation of further growth and global commercial development also attracted two new major investors, namely BGF and Cambridge Innovation Capital.
Alastair Kilgour, Co-founder and Partner, Parkwalk commented: “Parkwalk are delighted to continue to support the ground breaking technology from Dr Ken Smith’s laboratory at Addenbrookes, which enables the prognosis of IBD and an earlier clinical decision as to the correct drug treatment. This will significantly improve clinical outcomes and enhance patient welfare. The team at PredictImmune have done a magnificent job in productising the technology and are now taking the tests on their commercial pathway. We look forward to seeing the platform extended to benefit clinical outcomes in further diseases.”
Tim Rea, an investor at BGF commented: “As an active investor in diagnostics, we are excited to support PredictImmune’s innovative approach to forecasting the progression of disease. The business has grown quickly to take advantage of demand from a thriving market, and a decade of research from highly-dedicated academic and management teams has been effectively translated into a tool that will materially impact the lives of those afflicted with IBD.”
Michael Anstey, Partner, Cambridge Innovation Capital, commented: “We are thrilled to work with our colleagues at Cambridge Enterprise to support one of Cambridge’s most promising businesses. PredictImmune is at the forefront of personalised medicine, enabling improved treatment choice for patients with immune-mediated diseases. We are especially excited about their lead product PredictSURE IBD™, which has the potential to end ‘trial-and-error medicine’ for patients suffering with IBD.”
Paul Kinnon, CEO, PredictImmune added: “I am delighted with the level of investment secured in this latest round. It’s particularly gratifying to see our existing investors’ confidence in PredictImmune as they follow their initial investments and equally exciting to welcome new investors too. This investment will enable us to keep up the momentum, pushing on with our commercial expansion across the UK, Europe, the USA and rest of the world, whilst also allowing for the expansion and development of our product pipeline. It’s an exciting time to be part of PredictImmune, and as a team we are extremely motivated by both progress to date and our future objectives, especially around enabling improved treatment choice in patients being diagnosed with IBD.”
Immune-mediated diseases, such as IBD and SLE are chronic and incurable with clinical courses that vary among individuals with the same disease. PredictImmune spun out of the University of Cambridge and its first prognostic product, PredictSURE IBD™, is the world’s first, truly validated and CE-marked prognostic test for guiding treatment options in IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). It enables both clinicians and patients to understand, at the point of diagnosis, the likely course of disease – differentiating between an aggressive or milder form of the disease – and opens up the possibility of better treatment choices from the outset. With a better understanding of the impact the disease may have, options such as life-style changes to improve the day to day management of the disease can be discussed and implemented much earlier on in the treatment process. PredictSURE IBD™ is a major step towards personalised medicine and improved treatment in IBD.
For more information please visit: www.predictimmune.com
