Led · Seed · Oct 2021

Anticancer Bioscience (ACB) applies synthetic lethal approaches and proprietary screening platforms to discover targeted cancer therapeutics. The company leverages bespoke small-molecule and one of the world’s largest natural product libraries to identify compounds that target genetic and epigenetic cancer vulnerabilities. ACB is advancing multiple preclinical drug-discovery programs, with its two most advanced programs focused on MYC-synthetic lethality and contact inhibition restoration. Proceeds from the recent financing will be used to accelerate preclinical development, optimize lead compounds for a polyploidy-synthetic lethal program, and identify additional leads for contact inhibition restoration. ACB reported it has raised roughly CNY200M (over USD31M) to date and said it aims to initiate two clinical trials in 2022. The company was founded in 2016 and has about 50 employees across Chengdu (headquarters), Hyderabad, Sydney, St Andrews, and San Francisco. Anticancer Bioscience (ACB) applies synthetic lethal approaches and proprietary screening libraries to discover oncology drugs that kill cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. The company has invested in novel small-molecule scaffolds and a large natural-product/ botanical collection (over 20,000 samples) and is expanding its general-utility new scaffold-drug fragment (GUNS-DF) libraries. ACB runs five distinct synthetic lethality programs, including oncogene-enabled (MYC-focused) and tumour-suppressor approaches, centrosome delustering, polyploid-cell targeting, and restoration of contact inhibition. Its lead MYC inhibition program has produced a novel HJ compound series with low-nM activity in cell models, in vitro functional activity that mimics Aurora B kinase inhibition, and positive animal data in a small-molecule program targeting MYC overexpression. The company has filed a provisional PCT covering the HJ library and plans to progress two programs toward IND-enabling studies this year, using recent financing to expand screening libraries and discovery platforms. Since founding in 2016, ACB has grown to almost 50 employees across Chengdu (China), Hyderabad (India), San Francisco (USA), and St Andrews (UK) and has raised CNY131m (~USD21m) to date.

Participated · Equity · May 2016

Hyperdrive Innovation is a Sunderland-based developer and manufacturer of lithium-ion energy storage technologies and patented battery management systems. The company supplies battery packs for automotive, commercial vehicles, off-highway vehicles, industrial robots and stationary energy storage, and has electrified an autonomous marine vehicle and supplied batteries for Europe’s fastest road-legal EV. It expects to launch two new modular battery systems later this year and can ramp production at its Sunderland plant to 10,000 battery packs a year. Hyperdrive’s battery management technology is adaptable to different cell chemistries and the company acts as a development and manufacturing partner for OEMs. Formed in 2012, Hyperdrive is a founder member of the North East Automotive Alliance and is actively recruiting in engineering and operational roles. The company is seeking experienced battery distribution partners and plans productivity improvements in battery pack manufacture.