Stem cell spin out has highest ever UK funding round

A spin out focusing on stem cell drugs to treat age related diseases has raised the highest ever amount in the UK in a single investment round.

Oxstem, an Oxford University spin out, received £16.9m. The money will be used on developing small molecule drugs that can ‘turn on’ repair mechanisms already present in the body.

Dr Michael Stein, Oxstem CEO, said: “By developing drugs for this purpose we have the potential to revolutionise healthcare. Our talented team is now going to be supported by a highly sophisticated investor base.”

The drugs Oxstem plan to produce will programme resident stem and stem-like cells to work in situ to treat currently untreatable age-related conditions such as cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, heart failure and macular degeneration.

Oxstem is the sixth spin out for co-founder Professor Steve Davies, from the Department of Chemistry at Oxford. He said: “We will identify small molecule drug candidates, which can programme adult stem and stem-like cells to repair and replace tissues affected by disease or injury. We have been very fortunate in being able to collaborate with some 80 University colleagues, all leaders in their respective fields, to match our insights and skills with their domain expertise to innovate clinical models and potential therapies.”

OxStem is looking to fund the development of daughter companies, each with a focus on a different unmet need. The first company will be OxStem Oncology, which will be looking at therapy-resistant cancers. The initial focus will be acute myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes. Subsequent companies launched will include Oxstem Cardio, Neuro and Ocular.