Redx Pharma bids for £4.7m in government funding
To support the launch of Redx Anti-Infectives
UK pharmaceuticals firm Redx Pharma has revealed plans for a new £10.8m venture to develop drugs to combat antibiotic resistance and new medicines to tackle viral infections such as influenza, Hepatitis C and HIV.
The company has bid for £4.7m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to support the establishment of the new subsidiary, Redx Anti-Infectives, which is likely to be based in Liverpool alongside the company’s existing operations.
The RGF bid is matched by a commitment to deliver £6.1m of private funding brokered by Redx Pharma’s advisor Manchester-based Acceleris Corporate Finance.
The RGF funding will support an initial two-year industrial research phase of chemistry, biochemistry and analytical testing, which would create 119 jobs in Liverpool.
Overall, the total cost of the project would be £32.7m over five years. The completion of the initial research scheme will unlock further investment of £22m for years three to five.
The RGF bid, if successful, would enable the new centre to be opened in April 2013, subject to the availability of suitable facilities in the city.
Redx Pharma is based at the MerseyBio facility and won RGF support in April for the launch of its first spin out, Redx Oncology, a cancer research and development subsidiary which is now operating from temporary facilities at the University of Liverpool’s Duncan Building.
Redx Anti-Infectives would join the other two parts of the business in becoming the cornerstone tenant for the development of Liverpool’s new biomedical campus development, a £28m project planned to go ahead on land owned by the Royal Liverpool Hospital.
Redx Pharma, launched two years ago, modifies existing drugs to create model therapies using its Redox Switch platform technology, which allows rapid assessment of new drug candidates, which can go forward to development programmes with lower risk and greater speed through clinical trials.
