Therapeutics spin-out MiroBio launches with £27m Series A funding

Dr Srini Akkaraju, managing general partner of Samsara Biocapital, Deborah Harland, partner of SROne, Dr Andrew Mclean, principal of OSI and Dr Shahzad Malik, general partner of Advent Life Sciences, also join MiroBio’s board.

Professor Richard Cornall. Pic: MiroBio

MiroBio’s platform is based on research and technology from the labs of Simon Davis, Professor of Molecular Immunology at the MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine and Richard Cornall, Nuffield, Professor of Clinical Medicine at Oxford University.

The company is developing proprietary antibodies and variants to stimulate specific immune cell signals, allowing MiroBio to harness the natural control mechanisms of the immune system for therapeutic benefit across a range of diseases. The company plans to initially focus on applications in auto-immune disease.

Dr Eliot Charles. Pic: MiroBio

Dr Eliot Charles, executive chairman of MiroBio and venture partner at SROne says: “MiroBio has a robust technology and the ambition to bring new medicines to patients in need of improved therapies. To help realise this goal, we have assembled a strong syndicate of leading healthcare investors who have a solid track record of creating successful biotech companies and backing world leading teams like the one we have started to build.”

Professor Simon Davis. Pic: MiroBio

Professor Davis adds: “We have been studying key aspects of signalling through immune cell receptors for over 15 years. Working collaboratively with MiroBio and its investors, we now have the opportunity to translate our insights, ideas and technologies into important new medicines that could significantly improve patients’ lives.”

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Gill Oliver

Gill Oliver is a professionally trained journalist who’s written for The New Statesman, The Bureau for Investigative Journalism, The Daily Mail’s business section This is Money, The Press Association, The Huffington Post plus a host of national magazines, news agencies and trade and industry journals. She’s also spent nine years reporting on the Oxfordshire business and tech scene for The Oxford Times and The Oxford Mail.