MEIF helps Locate to $2.7m round

Locate Therapeutics, a drug and stem cell delivery spinout from University of Nottingham, has received £2m ($2.7m) in a round featuring the UK government-backed Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF).

MEIF contributed $532,000 to the deal through its Proof of Concept (POC) and Early Stage Fund, which is managed by Mercia Fund Managers, a subsidiary of investment firm Mercia Technologies.

Locate Therapeutics is developing a polymer-based material called Taos that allows medicines to be injected into the body with greater precision than conventional alternatives.

The material works by assembling into a 3D porous structure after injection, performing much like an implanted construct. It is expected to offer a more controlled release of therapeutic drugs or to enable regenerative tissue repair without risking stem cells migrating.

Locate will use the cash to recruit six additional employees as it looks to expand its business development capacity and trademark its inventions in preparation for a push into markets globally.

The spinout received an undisclosed amount of capital in May 2014 from diversified metals, materials and components business Heraeus, as part of a cash package that included $2.4m in grant funding from UK innovation agency Innovate UK.

Ken Cooper, manager director for venture capital solutions at British Business Bank, which is responsible for MEIF, said: “Locate Therapeutics has a real opportunity to make improvements in patient care – factors that without this equity investment would not be able to take place.

“Helping deals such as this go through is a big part of what the MEIF was set up to do, as it continues to support small innovative companies to grow and to address the regional funding imbalances across the UK.”