The Warwick spinout has received $5.1m in capital from investors such as Mercia Technologies to fund commercialisation of a transdermal ibuprofen patch.
Medherant, a UK-based medical technology spinout of University of Warwick focused on transdermal patches, has received £3.8m ($5.1m) in capital led by commercialisation firm Mercia Technologies.
Mercia provided £2.5m to the round and has now increased its equity stake from 11.3% to 32.4%. The remaining money was supplied by unnamed backers.
Founded in 2015, Medherant has developed adhesive patches, branded Tepi, that deliver medication through the skin to avoid side effects associated with oral drugs or injection.
The cash will be used to fund commercialisation of an ibuprofen patch, scheduled to begin clinical development in early 2018. Further capital will help develop a patch for lidocaine, a local anaesthetic that can cause confusion and vomiting when injected intravenously.
Medherant raised $2m in funding in September 2016 that included $860,000 from Mercia with the remainder invested by unnamed backers, following a $460,000 commitment made by Mercia one year earlier.
The spinout is based on research by David Haddleton, a professor of chemistry at University of Warwick, who has written a paper on thermo-responsive polymers.
Nigel Davis, chief executive of Medherant, said: “We are grateful to have the continued financial support of Mercia and pleased to be working closely with the team as we move into the next exciting phase of Medherant’s development.
“Our Tepi Patch technology is generating global interest and we are now working with several leading pharmaceutical companies at the same time as we develop our own product pipeline.”
