Glialign, a UK-based developer of a treatment for peripheral nerve damage spun out from University College London (UCL), has raised an undisclosed sum from backers including the institution’s UCL Technology Fund.
The government-backed UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), a patient capital fund targeting British spinouts, and public body Innovate UK also took part in the funding round.
Founded in 2016, Glialign is working on a cell therapy for peripheral nerve repair. The technology, Engineered Neural Tissue (EngNT), offers an off-the-shelf treatment which generates living artificial tissue to support and guide nerve repair.
Peripheral nerve damage, whereby nerves that carry signals from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body are damaged or diseased, leads to paralysis and loss of sensation, and can cause chronic pain.
The condition can be caused by bacterial infections such as Lyme disease or autoimmune diseases such as HIV and Aids. Current therapies often rely on grafting a nerve from another part of the body, but treatments are successful in fewer than half of cases, according to Glialign.
The spinout’s technology is based on research led by James Philips at the Centre for Nerve Engineering in the School of Pharmacy.
The funding from UCL Technology Fund has been allocated to product development, while the capital from UKI2S and Innovate UK will enable in vivo experiments.
