Epidarex leads £4m investment in EMI

Ellie Pullen
07 February 2014

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Epidarex Capital (formerly Rock Spring Ventures) has taken part in a ТЃ4m series-A funding round for Edinburgh University spinout Edinburgh Molecular Imaging (EMI).

Scottish Enterprise's Scottish Investment Bank also participated in the funding round.

The capital will allow the company to focus initially on developing its technology to diagnose and monitor lung conditions. EMI plans to eventually widen its operations to cover several other major diseases.

Rock Spring changed its name to Epidarex at the end of January. The firm focuses its investment efforts on the life sciences and health technology sectors, taking part in early-stage funding rounds for UK and US university spinouts. Epidarex has offices in Edinburgh, Tokyo and Bethesda in Maryland, US.

Company
Part of the Edinburgh BioQuarter programme, EMI span out from the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine and School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh in January.

The new company is developing optical molecular imaging (OPI) technology, with the aim of diagnosing and monitoring several major diseases. EMI's initial focus will be on respiratory conditions such as lung cancer, fibrosis, lung infections and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The spinout's OPI technology centres around developing fluorescent imaging reagents for in-vivo imaging, designed to detect harmful processes in the human body.

EMI claims its technology could accelerate diagnosis and reduce healthcare costs.

Edinburgh BioQuarter is the commercialisation arm of an academic medical centre formed through the partnership of Edinburgh University and NHS Lothian. The programme aids in the spinout of businesses from Edinburgh University.

People
EMI was founded by Mark Bradley, Chris Haslett and Kev Dhaliwal, all of whom work at the University of Edinburgh. Elizabeth Roper is a partner at Epidarex, while Lena Wilson is the CEO of Scottish Enterprise.

Advisers
Equity – Edwards Wildman, Niall McAlister, Kimberley Cottrell, Michael McCormack (Legal).