Discovery Park Ventures (DPV), the early stage life sciences fund associated with Discovery Park, has made investments in two high-potential businesses, Ignota Labs and Oxford Medical Products. The funding, which takes the number of companies in its portfolio to six, makes a significant contribution to the growth trajectory of both firms as they work towards their next milestones. Established in 2022, DPV invests in novel and disruptive technology usually related to Discovery Park’s focus areas1 and has plans to expand to up to £25m.
Ignota Labs is helping drug developers navigate the toxicity landscape of drug discovery with state-of-the-art scalable toxicity screening tools for the pharma and biotech industry. It provides insights across a range of toxicity problems, enabling improved drug design optimisation from the start of the discovery process. The company believes that proactive use of its technology has the potential to save the industry significant amounts of time and billions of pounds each year via reduced failure risk and creation of improved drug candidates. Also backed by Sustainable Ventures, Ignota Labs has completed its first strategic partnership and is now raising a £1.5m seed round.
Oxford Medical Products, led by CEO Dr Camilla Easter, has developed the novel weight-loss product Sirona. Excessive weight increases the risk of poor health and is estimated to cost the global economy over $2tn every year. Based on a proprietary hydrogel and now in clinical trials, Sirona comprises a self-expanding pill which occupies physical space in the stomach, reducing hunger and leading to significant weight loss in a non-invasive way. In addition to Discovery Park Ventures, Oxford Medical Products is backed by Ada Ventures, Nesta VC, Selvedge Venture and OION.
Sam Windsor, CEO of Ignota Labs, said, ‘We are delighted to be backed by Discovery Park Ventures. Its team’s extensive experience of company building, business development and fundraising will be invaluable to Ignota Labs as we create partnerships around our toxicity screening technology and build our offering.’
Dr Camilla Easter, CEO of Oxford Medical Products, said, ‘Discovery Park Ventures is a very welcome addition to our investor base. With Sirona in clinical trials this is an exciting stage of development for Oxford Medical Products and we look forward to working with the DPV team as we progress towards the market.’
Mayer Schreiber, Chairman of Discovery Park Ventures, said, ‘Although very different businesses, Discovery Park Ventures is excited by the significant growth potential of both Ignota Labs and Oxford Medical Products. We’re pleased to welcome them to the DPV portfolio and network and look forward to helping them succeed.