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UCL spin-out raises £1 million

Article Date:  Apr 25 2008 Nick Britton

Domainex, a biopharmaceutical spin-out from University College London (UCL), has raised £1 million to develop its contract research business and commercialise its drug discovery projects. The funding round was led by healthcare-focused venture capital firm Longbow Capital, which contributed £790,000, bringing its total investment in Domainex to £1.15 million.

The balance of the investment came from The Capital Fund, the regional venture capital fund for London, where Domainex is headquartered.

Domainex has patented a technology called combinatorial domain hunting (CDH) that allows proteins or parts of proteins to be cloned for use in drug discovery programmes. Ian Cameron, investment director at the Capital Fund, comments: ‘The application of the company’s CDH platform and strengths in medicinal chemistry could play a key role in reducing drug discovery timelines.’

The company plans to commercialise its pipeline of drugs in development by early out-licensing to, or forming partnerships with, larger pharmaceutical companies.

A subsidiary of Domainex, NCE Discovery, provides chemistry services to biotech and pharmaceutical firms involved in drug discovery from its base on the Cambridge Science Park.

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