
Index backs Morphogen’s £1.5m seed round
Morphogen-IX, a Cambridge-based biotech company, has raised £1.5m in seed funding from lead investor Index Ventures, alongside Cambridge Innovation Capital and Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds.
The company, which develops a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, intends to use the fresh capital to confirm the best drug candidate to take forward into full development.
Index mainly focuses on investments in the digital sector. The VC made its last biotech investment in July 2015, when it took part in a $36m series-B round for French biotech company GenSight Biologics, alongside Novartis Venture Fund, Abingworth and Versant Ventures.
Company
Morphogen-IX is a spinout from University of Cambridge's Department of Medicine at Addenbrooke's Hospital. The company develops a drug treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, a disease that affects around 6,500 people in the UK, mostly women in their 30s. It is caused by a narrowing of the blood vessels that lead from the heart to the lungs. As these arteries narrow, it becomes harder for the heart to pump blood through to the lungs, leading to breathlessness and heart failure.
People
Cambridge Enterprise – Andrew Walsh (technology manager).
Cambridge Innovation Capital – Robert Tansley (investment director).
Latest News
Stonehage Fleming raises USD 130m for largest fund to date, eyes 2024 programme
Multi-family office has seen strong appetite, with investor base growing since 2016 to more than 90 family offices, Meiping Yap told Unquote
Permira to take Ergomed private for GBP 703m
Sponsor deploys Permira VIII to ride new wave of take-privates; Blackstone commits GBP 200m in financing for UK-based CRO
Partners Group to release IMs for Civica sale in mid-September
Sponsor acquired the public software group in July 2017 via the same-year vintage Partners Group Global Value 2017
Change of mind: Sponsors take to de-listing their own assets
EQT and Cinven seen as bellweather for funds to reassess options for listed assets trading underwater