The Series A financing round was jointly led by existing investor Netherton Investments, alongside new investor Dompé farmaceutici
Engitix secures $54m investment. (Credit: S K from Pixabay.)
Engitix, a UK-based biopharmaceutical company developing a human extracellular matrix (ECM) drug target discovery platform, has raised $54m in a Series A funding round.
The financing round was jointly led by existing investor Netherton Investments, alongside new investor Dompé farmaceutici, an Italian biopharmaceutical company.
Engitix intends to use the funding to invest in internal drug discovery pipeline, expand its ECM discovery platform and bioinformatics capabilities along with its team, facilities and operations.
Also, the company would expand its pharma and biotech collaborations. It has more than $500m worth license agreement with Takeda, and an existing partnership with Morphic Therapeutics.
In relation with the funding, Engitix has also entered into a strategic collaboration with Dompé, to support its transition to a biopharmaceutical product company.
In addition, Dompé corporate business development director Mike Platt would be appointed as member of Engitix board of directors.
Mike Platt said: “I am prepared to take a risk and invest in innovative technology early, backing highly passionate teams with strong leadership.
“Having invested from the start, Engitix’s progress and achievements within less than two years from its seed financing have been impressive.
“The value of Engitix’s platform has been proven through the partnerships it has established and the pipeline of opportunities it has built.
“The collaboration with Dompé propels it to the next stage and I look forward to working with the board and investors to maximise Engitix’s full potential.”
Engitix is developing a portfolio of drug discovery programmes in PSC, PDAC, liver metastasis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), using its human ECM platform.
Its collaboration with Dompé, which has advanced tools and AI-driven drug discovery platform, is aimed at creating new treatments for fibrosis and liver-associated solid tumours.
Under the collaboration, Dompé will provide direct access to the Italian supercomputer centre, CINECA, to advance its own drug discovery and development.
Engitix would retain full control over its assets and programmes, to transform itself from a technology platform to a biopharmaceutical product company.
Dompé is eligible to receive clinical and commercial milestones and royalties on marketed products developed under the collaboration.
Dompé CSO Marcello Allegretti said: “Our mission is to improve people’s lives and we partner with the best academic and industrial groups to accelerate the research that will bring new solutions to patients’ unmet needs.
“We look forward to working with the Engitix team to combine the power of Exscalate with Engitix’s deep understanding of the biology of the fibrosis and solid tumours microenvironment and the unique strength of its ECM platform.
“Our collaboration will enable us to accelerate the clinical translation of targets beyond our four key in-house therapeutic areas of ophthalmology, metabolic disorders, oncology, and pain management.”