GSK launches $50m venture capital fund

The APVC vehicle, based in Massachusetts, will seek to invest in five to seven companies over the next five years. The fund will back start-ups in the bioelectric medicines field; older biotech companies developing peripheral nervous system-devices; and companies creating biotechnology platforms. The fund will mainly invest in the US.

The fund will work in conjunction with GSK's two-year-old bioelectronics research and development unit. The end-goal of the fund's activities is to create a new bioelectronics medicine ready for approval by 2020.

According to GSK, bioelectric medicines could have the ability to read the irregular patterns of action potentials, a type of electrical signal that passes along the nerves of the body. Bioelectric devices are currently being developed to discover if they could be designed to read, change or generate electronic impulses in the peripheral nervous system and specific organs. The aim of this is to help treat a plethora of disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Type 2 diabetes, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.

APVC's first investment will be in SetPoint Medical, based in Valencia, California. The company is currently developing a set of implantable devices that are designed to stimulate the vagus nerve, to aid in the treatment of IBD and rheumatoid arthritis.

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