International Biotechnology Trust
6th Floor, 65 Gresham Street, London, England, EC2V 7NQ, United Kingdom
Overview
International Biotechnology Trust offers investors access to the fast growing biotechnology sector through an actively managed, diversified fund. Its award winning fund managers at SV Health Investors are scientifically and medically trained with over 60 years of experience in this specialist sector between them. As well as investing in a wide ranging portfolio of global quoted biotechnology stocks, they include a small proportion of otherwise inaccessible carefully selected unquoted investments which have the potential to deliver additional returns over the long term. Excellent management teams, unique innovative products and strong potential for outperformance are the key criteria for inclusion in their diversified portfolio of assets. International Biotechnology Trust offers investors the rare combination of high capital growth and sustainable dividend income. The Lead Investment Manager, Carl Harald Janson is celebrating his five year tenure with strong performance versus the benchmark, significantly outperforming the NBI on both a NAV and share price basis, with outperformances of 10.9% and 43.4% respectively. The NAV has also substantially outperformed the FTSE All-Share Index over the same period, with a return of 142.0% vs the index return of 44.1%.
- Total investments
- 2
- Lead investments
- 1
- Investments · 12mo
- 0
- Active investors
- 0
Sector focus
- Biotechnology
- Finance
- Financial Services
Investment portfolio
- Autifony Therapeutics
Participated · Series A · Jul 2015
Autifony is focused on developing high‑value, novel medicines for serious central nervous system diseases using expertise in ion channel drug discovery. The company is initiating a research programme to target a previously unexplored subtype of potassium channel implicated in Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, aiming to regulate synaptic function. Autifony believes modulating this channel could both improve symptoms and have disease‑modifying potential. The new programme is being supported by a funding award from the Biomedical Catalyst and an investment from the Dementia Discovery Fund. Autifony was formed in 2011 as a spin‑out from GSK, which retains equity in the company, and is based in London, UK. Existing backers named in the announcement include SV Life Sciences, Touchstone Innovations plc, Pfizer Venture Investments, International Biotechnology Trust PLC, and UCL Business plc. Autifony Therapeutics develops novel pharmaceutical treatments for hearing disorders built around a Kv3 ion channel mechanism. Its lead program, AUT00063, will be explored in a pilot study in patients with cochlear implants, and the company is advancing AUT00206, a differentiated Kv3 modulator for schizophrenia. The firm is also exploring the Kv3 approach for tinnitus and other areas of high unmet medical need. Financially, Autifony closed an £8m extension to its Series A in 2015, supplementing a prior Series A that raised over £15m. Backers in the extension included SV Life Sciences, Imperial Innovations, Pfizer Venture Investments, the International Biotechnology Trust PLC (IBT), and UCL Business. Formed in 2011 as a spin-out from GSK and led by CEO Dr Charles Large, the company is based in London, UK. Autifony Therapeutics is developing AUT00063, a Kv3 potassium channel modulator intended to treat a variety of hearing disorders. The company is advancing clinical development toward indications including tinnitus and age-related hearing loss. It plans to use recently awarded funds to progress AUT00063 and to initiate a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase IIa study in tinnitus patients in the UK. A separate Phase IIa trial in age-related hearing loss is planned to start later this year. Autifony is an Imperial Innovations Group plc portfolio company and is led by CEO Charles H. Large, PhD; Founder and Head of Drug Discovery Giuseppe S. Alvaro, PhD; and Chief Medical Officer Peter Harris, BSc, MBBS. The company recently received a grant award to support these clinical development activities.
- Karus Therapeutics
Led · Series B · Sep 2012
Karus Therapeutics develops small‑molecule PI3K p110‑delta/beta and HDAC6 inhibitor programmes targeting inflammatory disease and cancer. Its molecules are reported to display high potency and specificity and show oral activity in preclinical models of inflammatory disease. Karus highlights potential applications in arthritis and other inflammatory conditions and plans to explore PI3K inhibitors for PTEN‑negative tumours and patient‑stratified cancer therapies. The company intends to advance its proprietary programmes through early clinical trials. Karus is UK‑based (Southampton, England), privately held, and described as having a strong financial track record and experienced investors. The company also announced an expanded board following the financing.
Team
No current team members are available.