Firm focused on oral cancer treatment secures £1.5m boost - Insider Media
Summary
A Newcastle-based life sciences company has raised \xa31.5m worth of investment to develop a treatment for patients suffering from early stage oral cancer.LightOx has raised money to develop its lead candidate LXD191, which is an oral gel that is activated by a light device that targets a serious pre-cancerous condition called oral epithelial dysplasia (OED).Founded by Carrie Ambler and Dr Sam Whitehouse, the company aims to develop a treatment that will replace painful and highly invasive surgery or radiotherapy, both of which are commonly used on patients.The round was led by the GMC Life Sciences Fund by Praetura a collaborative fund managed by Praetura Ventures and made up of Bruntwood SciTech, Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership and Greater Manchester Combined Authority with LightOxs existing investors also contributing, including Newcastles Northstar Ventures.Professor Carrie Ambler, chief scientific officer at LightOx, said: "The new investment from the GMC Life Sciences Fund managed by Praetura and Northstar Ventures will enable us to finalise the pre-clinical data package over the next 12 months needed for us to advance our lead drug into clinical trials. "Sim Singh-Landa, investment director at Praetura Ventures and head of the GMC Life Sciences by Praetura, added: "The research and clinical tests the LightOx team are doing now could save and improve countless lives in the future as well as alleviate pressure on the NHS by treating OED at a much earlier stage. The Praetura team is looking forward to supporting LightOx as it enters this next phase of growth and clinical testing. Likewise, we are delighted that the business will be increasing its presence in Manchester and the North West, where there is a wealth of life sciences expertise. "Alex Buchan, investment director at Northstar Ventures, said: "With oral cancer currently being ranked as the sixth most common, we see this as a really exciting new therapeutic.