Calculus invests £2.5m in listed portfolio company Epistem

Kenny Wastell
14 July 2016

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Calculus Capital has invested ТЃ2.5m in listed British biotechnology company Epistem, as part of a ТЃ6.5m equity fundraising.

The AIM-listed diagnostics business will use the fresh capital to develop its low-cost tests for HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

Epistem will also rebrand as Genedrive following the fundraising.

Previous funding
According to unquote" data, Epistem has a history of venture capital and private equity backing, with Calculus first investing in the company in September 2000.

In 2007, the business received two rounds of funding, with Calculus, Octopus Investments and YFM Equity Partners injecting £3m in April and Calculus increasing its stake in November.

Two years later, in June 2009, Calculus increased its stake further to 14% via a growth capital investment.

The biotech company has since undertaken three other fundraising efforts, with BlackRock acquiring a 5.4% stake in April 2011, which it later increased to 6% in June 2011 and 7.2% in February 2012.

Calculus has also made a number of exits from the business, having partially divested its stake in November 2009, February 2013 and May 2014. The firm said it has generated an average 3.4x return on capital invested from its exits to date.

Company
Established in 2000 and headquartered in Manchester, Epistem develops therapies for epithelial diseases using adult stem cells. It focuses on developing low-cost point-of-need systems to meet the needs of developing countries.

The business generates 45% of its sales from the US, with 20% coming from the UK and 24% from other EU countries.

People
Calculus Capital – John Glencross (chief executive).
Epistem – David Budd (CEO).